Most pharmaceutical companies are sitting on the patent cliff and their drug pipelines are facing severe exhaustion. The big players of the industry are thus looking for mergers & acquisitions (M&A) strategies in order to enrich their shrinking opportunities in the life science sector. Although, the overall mergers and acquisitions (M&A) scenario was dismay during 2012 (owing to big pharma's consolidation of transactions from the previous year), it received a boost and was upbeat in the first quarter of 2013. The first quarter of 2013 saw these firms make several M&A transactions with many other life science companies.

While Pfizer sold 20 percent of its animal health business, Zoetis, which offers medicines, vaccines, diagnostic products, genetic tests, and a range of services related to animal health, pharmaceutical company Allergan acquired MAP Pharmaceuticals, a development-stage company focused on neurology therapies, including its lead product candidate, Levadex, for approximately $957 million.

Other interesting facts and figures:
• What were the top 20 global transactions of 2012?
• What were the top 20 deals in the pharma and biotech sector in 2012?

Stryker acquired Trauson, China-based manufacturer of trauma and spine orthopaedic implants and tools, for approximately $764 million, and Gilead acquired YM BioSciences, a drug development company engaged in the development of hematology and cancer-related products, at $473 million.

While Illumina acquired diagnostics manufacturer, Verinata Health, for approximately $450 million, Biogen acquired Elan's rights to Tysabri (natalizumab) for approximately $3.3 billion. Furthermore, Royalty Pharma plans to acquire Elan at $6.6 billion and Argon Medical Devices is planning to acquire Angiotech Pharmaceuticals.

Moreover, while Mylan plans to acquire Agila Specialties, a developer of generic injectable products, from Strides Arcolab, Valeant Pharmaceuticals plans to acquire Obagi Medical Products, a manufacturer of topical aesthetic and therapeutic skin-health systems for approximately $437 million.