And the Nominees for IVB 2011 M&A of the Year Are ...

OK, IN VIVO blog readers, it's time to have your say. We've supplied the nominations but YOU will decide the winners. Once again we've created a special page so you can vote on all three categories in one place. Remember you much click on the "VOTE" button in each individual category--Alliance, M&A, and Exit/Financing--to record your choices.

CLICK HERE to go to the voting booth!

In no particular order, the nominations for In Vivo Blog's 2011 M&A of the Year are:

Sanofi/Genzyme: Something for everyone: publicly traded earnouts, rare diseases, diversity, and one heck of a long, drawn out negotiation over price. Oh yeah, $20 billion for an industry trailblazer. Click here for the deal nomination post.


Endo/AMS: Every good company constantly evolves, but only a few complete radical makeovers as rapidly as Endo has. The acquisition of AMS really cements Endo's transition from drug co to 'pelvic health' company, drugs, devices, services and all. Click here for the deal nomination post.

Daiichi/Plexxikon: An extremely solid exit driven by a well executed partnering strategy on one of the year's most watched and important drugs. There aren't too many 12x deals out there. Click here for the deal nomination post.

Takeda/Nycomed: This $13.7 billion acquisition gives Takeda sought-for diversity by moving it further into OTC, branded generics and emerging markets. Nycomed's PE investor base had long aimed for an exit -- via sale or more recently rumored IPO. This is a tidy one indeed. Click here for the deal nomination post.

Abbott/Abbott Pharma: Is it really M&A? Who cares. Diversified Abbott has jettisoned its Humira-dominated pharma business in a spin out with roughly $18 billion in revenue.   Click here for the deal nomination post.

Gilead/Pharmasset: When $14 billion speaks, people listen. Pharmasset's record-setting sale to Gilead put a smile on the face of the biotech's investors that could be seen from space. It was by a long stretch the largest ever acquisition of a clinical-stage company and cranks up the heat in the already intense HCV development space. Click here to see the deal nomination post.