Companies went on a drug-fueled shopping spree Monday.  The pharmaceutical industry kicked the week off with a handful of merger activity and other big-ticket tie-ups, as pharma, medical and biotech firms continue to seek new profit opportunities through acquisitions and partnerships.  On the day after Dublin drugmaker Shire said it had agreed to buy New Jersey-based NPS Pharmaceuticals for $5.2 billion to add to its portfolio of medicines for rare diseases, Johnson & Johnson, Roche and distributor AmerisourceBergen were among the companies announcing deals.  The sector picked up where it left off in 2014, when M&A’s among health care-related companies contributed to a record high of $1.41 trillion in deal activity, and two of the 10 biggest tie-ups were drug-related.  “Unless something substantially unexpected happens, we’re going to continue to see a flow of these larger companies trying to fill their portfolios with companies that have drugs and technology and that provide services they don’t already have,” Takashi Toyokawa, senior editor of Mergermarket & Dealreporter, told the Daily News.  “There’ll be a lot more consolidation in this (sector) in 2015.”  Besides Shire, which will add to its portfolio of medicines for rare diseases through its deal with NPS, Roche said it will acquire a $1 billion stake in Foundation Medicine to develop cancer-fighting drugs.  New Brunswick, N.J.-based Johnson & Johnson signed a $509 million deal with Swiss biotech firm AC Immune to develop vaccines to combat Alzheimer’s.  Pharmaceutical wholesaler AmerisourceBergen said it plans to buy MWI Veterinary Supply for about $2.5 billion in a bid to expand into the animal health products market.  And Canada’s Tekmira Pharmaceuticals will buy Pennsylvania-based OnCore Biopharma in a merger that values the combined company at $750 million .
Major pharmaceutical companies on Monday announced deals to acquire or merge with other companies to beef up profits.