Sustainability and Digital Transformation as key drivers in pharma and healthcare M&A deals during covid-19 pandemic

The covid-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, has certainly upset the international financial and economic balance, with considerable repercussions on the work of many industrial sectors. In such a context permeated by the uncertainty of results and by the uncertainty for the future, businesses’ survival finds an opportunity in the digitalization process, which modifies the processes of value creation, encouraging actions (like acquisition agreements with high-tech companies) aimed at preserving the competitive advantage acquired over time. In view of these considerations, the work-in-progress research focuses on the covid-19 impact on industrial sectors that are now at the center of global attention, and in particular on healthcare services and pharma. The paper aims to systematize data relating to innovations and changes in healthcare and pharma made in order to easily overcome the obstacles caused by the pandemic. It will focus on the role of sustainability in the healthcare industry and in particular on the use of ESG criteria in the evaluation process of M&A transactions between traditional healthcare and pharma companies and the tech world ones. The research, therefore, will explore theoretical studies on the evolution of healthcare and pharma, with particular attention to the tools and measures adopted by European states to support the industry. The main limitation of the research concerns the comparability of selected case studies. The results will allow to partially fill the aforementioned gap, enriching the literature and providing food for thought for management.