In a recent op-ed for Deseret News, Kelvyn Cullimore, CEO of PULSE Partner BioUtah, emphasizes the importance of federal policies that support pro-competitive life sciences mergers and acquisitions (M&A), in order to sustain innovation and growth in the life sciences — in Utah and across the country. Read the op-ed below:
Utah is America’s third fastest-growing life sciences hub, generating $21.6 billion annually in GDP and supporting 182,000 jobs, directly and indirectly. Our journey from frontier state to biotechnology powerhouse offers a blueprint for American medical innovation. Yet new federal policies misunderstand how new treatments reach patients.
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) play a uniquely important role in fueling the development of new therapies. Bringing a new medicine to market can take over a decade and cost billions of dollars. M&A within life sciences is the natural evolutionary path that allows key discoveries by risk-taking small companies to be elevated to a world market via larger company resources in manufacturing and sales channels. The potential of that financial exit attracts the important risk capital needed by early-stage companies. Without this pathway, many promising medical breakthroughs might never advance beyond the lab.
M&A and other strategic collaborations have been key to fueling decades of growth in Utah’s life sciences industry. From 2018 to 2022, researchers at universities in the state launched over 35 life sciences startups. Small companies like these make up a significant portion of Utah’s life sciences industry. These early-stage companies count on M&A to unlock the funding and capabilities they need to advance new therapies and cures.
Consider Utah’s success stories. When bioMérieux acquired BioFire Diagnostics in 2014, it transformed the Salt Lake City-based startup into a global leader employing over 4,000 Utahns. BioFire’s technology was the first to receive full FDA approval for COVID-19 testing. Similarly, Lehi-based Tolero Pharma was acquired by Sumitomo Pharma in 2016, expanding the global reach of Tolero’s promising oncology treatments. This deal also allowed the founders of Tolero to continue advancing new oncology discoveries in partnership with the University of Utah and others — creating a virtuous cycle of innovation.
Unfortunately, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) have recently doubled down on a worrying approach to M&A enforcement that could disrupt Utah’s dynamic life sciences ecosystem. In February, the FTC affirmed that it would retain the Biden-era 2023 Merger Guidelines — guidelines that have opened the door for a broader range of pro-competitive mergers to be challenged based on new and highly speculative standards of competition.
Similarly, the newly implemented changes to the Hart-Scott-Rodino premerger notification rule have substantially increased the amount of information that merging companies are required to report to the federal government — despite most mergers posing no risk to competition. For the nearly 80% of life sciences companies that operate without a profit, the time and cost burden imposed by this new rule could be enough to stop many pro-innovation mergers in their tracks.
The cost of aggressive merger enforcement is already becoming clear. For example, venture capital investment in biotechnology firms dropped by 25% in the final quarter of 2023, and despite a modest rebound in 2024, investors have become increasingly selective — all while the Agencies’ approach to merger enforcement have dampened M&A as a potential exit point for investors. Without the ability to partner and access funding and other resources, many life sciences companies in Utah and across the country could stall before they are able to get innovations to market.
Maintaining American leadership in biopharmaceutical innovation requires policies that help our companies compete globally. Instead, current merger enforcement policies are undercutting innovation and growth in America’s world-class life sciences ecosystem. When we block mergers that would otherwise support globally competitive American companies, we create a self-imposed disadvantage and risk losing our edge in delivering novel medical innovations and cures to patients.
The Trump administration has an historic opportunity to champion American innovation by embracing M&A as a critical engine for medical breakthroughs. By ensuring that FTC and DOJ policies recognize and support the unique dynamics in the life sciences industry, we can unleash a new wave of innovation that creates jobs, attracts investment and delivers lifesaving medicines to patients.
In Utah, we’ve proven that strategic partnerships work — creating a multiplier effect that seeds future companies and advances groundbreaking treatments. With the right policies, what we’ve built here can become the model for biotechnology leadership worldwide.
Kelvyn is the CEO of BioUtah, the trade association representing life sciences companies in the state of Utah.
This op-ed originally appeared in the Deseret News.