Press Release
New West Monroe Research Shows Life Sciences M&A Rebounds — but Execution Will Separate Winners
Kate Festle
Head of Healthcare & Life Sciences M&A at West Monroe and Co-Author of the Report
Press Release
Kate Festle
Head of Healthcare & Life Sciences M&A at West Monroe and Co-Author of the Report
As AI factors into 93% of life sciences deals, AI “readiness”— from data governance to workforce adoption — is essential to unlocking deal value
Chicago — December 4, 2025 — West Monroe, a global business and technology firm, today released new research showing life sciences dealmaking has regained momentum, but the drivers of success have shifted: speed of execution, AI and digital maturity, and cultural integration now determine who captures the most value.
The report, The Next Wave of Life Sciences M&A: Navigating Policy, Power, and Progress, draws on West Monroe’s deep practitioner experience in M&A and life sciences as well as a fresh survey of 250 private-equity firms and strategic acquirers. Together, they map where deal activity is moving — and explain why.
“Macroeconomic volatility has pushed many acquirers into a defensive stance, but momentum hasn’t disappeared,” said Kate Festle, head of Healthcare & Life Sciences M&A at West Monroe and co-author of the report.
Three core findings from the research include:
To capture the upside from accelerated dealmaking in the life sciences sector, acquirers must elevate execution as a front-and-center priority. That means planning integration earlier—aligning people, data, and workflows during diligence, not after signing. It means treating AI as core infrastructure and investing in scalable data foundations, governance, and performance metrics that turn ambition into measurable outcomes. And it means pairing new technology with deliberate workforce enablement, so digital capabilities are adopted, operationalized, and converted into sustained post-close value.
West Monroe’s Next Wave of Life Sciences survey was conducted by Rep Data and fielded in Q3 2025. Respondents included 250 dealmakers in the life sciences and biotech sectors, 125 strategic respondents and 125 private equity respondents. It can be found at www.westmonroe.com/insights/the-next-wave-of-life-sciences-ma
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