For deal sourcers, staying current on private company activity is critical to spotting active buyers, tracking market trends, and uncovering emerging investment opportunities ahead of competitors.
In March alone, we added more than 1,800 new private company transactions, bringing the total to over 19,000 searchable deals across sectors, industries, and transaction types in Dakota Marketplace.
Inside Dakota Marketplace, you’ll find the transactions tab that provides structured, filterable data on deal types, values, and dates, while our editorial team curates daily updates through the dakota transactions newsletter, helping you cut through the noise and focus on what matters most.
To ensure the most comprehensive coverage of private market activity, Dakota monitors over 10,000 websites including company websites, newswires, and numerous third-party news providers to capture and verify transaction data as it happens.
Below are the top 10 health care transactions.
- Transaction Date: 3/23/2026
- Industry: Health Care Equipment & Supplies
- Type: Acquisition / Merger
- Transaction Value: $21B
Abbott acquired Exact Sciences for approximately $21 billion ($105 per share) in a deal that closed in March 2026, adding Exact Sciences' cancer screening and diagnostics portfolio — including Cologuard, Oncotype DX, and Cancerguard — as a wholly owned subsidiary. The acquisition establishes Abbott as a leader in the $60 billion U.S. cancer screening and precision oncology diagnostics market, with combined diagnostics sales expected to exceed $12 billion annually.
- Transaction Date: 3/24/2026
- Industry: Health Care Providers & Services
- Type: Acquisition / Merger
- Transaction Value: $8.875B
Thermo Fisher Scientific acquired Clario Holdings for $8.875 billion in cash (plus up to $400 million in potential earnout payments) in a deal that closed in March 2026, adding Clario's clinical trial endpoint data platform — spanning eCOA, medical imaging, cardiac solutions, and wearable data capture — to its Laboratory Products and Biopharma Services segment. The acquisition strengthens Thermo Fisher's digital and AI capabilities in clinical research, with Clario's platform having supported approximately 70% of FDA drug approvals over the past decade and expected to generate roughly $1.25 billion in annual revenue.
- Transaction Date: 3/31/2026
- Industry: Pharmaceuticals
- Type: Acquisition/Merger
- Transaction Value: $7.8B
Eli Lilly announced a definitive agreement to acquire Centessa Pharmaceuticals for $38.00 per share in cash plus a contingent value right of up to $9.00 per share tied to FDA approval milestones, representing a total upfront equity value of approximately $6.3 billion and up to $7.8 billion in total potential consideration. The acquisition expands Lilly's neuroscience portfolio into sleep medicine through Centessa's pipeline of orexin receptor 2 (OX2R) agonists, including lead candidate cleminorexton, which has shown promising Phase 2a results across narcolepsy and idiopathic hypersomnia indications.
- Transaction Date: 3/25/2026
- Industry: Biotechnology
- Type: Acquisition/Merger
- Transaction Value: $6.7B
Merck announced a definitive agreement to acquire Terns Pharmaceuticals for $53.00 per share in cash, representing an approximate equity value of $6.7 billion, to gain access to TERN-701 — a novel oral allosteric BCR::ABL1 tyrosine kinase inhibitor currently in Phase 1/2 development for chronic myeloid leukemia. The acquisition expands Merck's growing hematology pipeline with a potentially best-in-class candidate that has shown promising early clinical activity, with the deal expected to close in Q2 2026.
- Transaction Date: 3/31/2026
- Industry: Pharmaceuticals
- Type: Acquisition/Merger
- Transaction Value: $5.6B
Biogen announced a definitive agreement to acquire Apellis Pharmaceuticals for $41.00 per share in cash plus a contingent value right of up to $4.00 per share tied to SYFOVRE® net sales milestones, representing an upfront equity value of approximately $5.6 billion. The acquisition adds two commercialized complement therapies, SYFOVRE® (geographic atrophy) and EMPAVELI® (rare kidney diseases and PNH), which together generated $689 million in 2025 revenue and are expected to grow at a mid-to-high teens rate through 2028, while also accelerating Biogen's expansion into nephrology ahead of its Phase 3 felzartamab readout.
- Transaction Date: 3/20/2026
- Industry: Pharmaceuticals
- Type: Acquisition/Merger
- Transaction Value: $3B
Novartis announced a definitive agreement to acquire Pikavation Therapeutics (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Synnovation Therapeutics) for $2 billion upfront plus up to $1 billion in milestone payments, gaining SNV4818, a potentially best-in-class pan-mutant selective PI3Kα inhibitor currently in Phase 1/2 trials for HR+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer and other solid tumors. The deal, expected to close in the first half of 2026, strengthens Novartis's breast cancer pipeline while Synnovation retains its remaining pipeline assets, including its selective PARP1 inhibitor SNV1521.
- Transaction Date: 3/16/2026
- Industry: Health Care Equipment & Supplies
- Type: Acquisition / Merger
- Transaction Value: $2.6B
Amplifon agreed to acquire GN Store Nord's Hearing business — including the ReSound, Beltone, and related hearing brands, IP, R&D, and manufacturing operations — for DKK 17.0 billion (~$2.4B USD) on a cash-free, debt-free basis, comprised of DKK 12.6 billion in cash and 56 million Amplifon shares, with the deal expected to close by end of 2026. The transaction creates a vertically integrated global audiology leader with combined revenues of approximately €3.3 billion across more than 100 countries, while allowing GN to refocus as a pure-play audio and video peripherals technology company.
- Transaction Date: 3/23/2026
- Industry: Biotechnology
- Type: Acquisition/Merger
- Transaction Value: $2.175B
Gilead Sciences announced a definitive agreement to acquire Ouro Medicines for $1.675 billion in upfront cash plus up to $500 million in contingent milestone payments, adding OM336 (gamgertamig) — a clinical-stage BCMAxCD3 T cell engager that has shown transformative early efficacy in severe autoimmune diseases including AIHA and ITP — to Gilead's inflammation portfolio. Alongside the acquisition, Gilead is entering a strategic collaboration with Galapagos, which will co-fund 50% of the consideration, absorb Ouro's operating assets and employees, and share development costs, while Gilead retains sole worldwide commercialization rights outside of Greater China.
- Transaction Date: 3/26/2026
- Industry: Life Sciences Tools & Services
- Type: Acquisition / Merger
- Transaction Value: $2B
Novartis announced a definitive agreement to acquire Excellergy for a total potential value of up to $2 billion in upfront and milestone payments, gaining Exl-111 — a potentially first-in-class trifunctional effector cell response inhibitor (ECRI) targeting the IgE axis that entered Phase 1 clinical trials in February 2026. The acquisition strengthens Novartis's allergy portfolio with a next-generation anti-IgE program designed to deliver faster and deeper suppression of IgE signaling beyond what conventional anti-IgE therapies can achieve.
- Transaction Date: 3/27/2026
- Industry: Biotechnology
- Type: Acquisition/Merger
- Transaction Value: $1.225B
Otsuka Pharmaceutical announced a definitive agreement to acquire Transcend Therapeutics for $700 million upfront plus up to $525 million in sales-based contingent consideration, gaining TSND-201 (methylone) — a non-hallucinogenic, rapid-acting neuroplastogen that met its primary endpoint in the Phase 2 IMPACT-1 trial for PTSD and has been granted FDA Breakthrough Therapy designation. The acquisition strengthens Otsuka's neuroscience portfolio with a potentially paradigm-shifting PTSD treatment at a critical stage, with Phase 3 patient recruitment already underway in the U.S.
At Dakota, we understand how important it is to stay current on deal activity as it happens. That’s why our editorial team continuously monitors the news for real-time updates on platform investments, add-ons, divestitures, and more to deliver daily highlights straight to your inbox through our transactions newsletter.
Inside Dakota Marketplace, the transactions tab provides structured, filterable data with deal dates, types, sectors, and financials, allowing you to build a customized feed that aligns with your focus areas.
Whether you're evaluating a new investment opportunity or tracking trends within a target sector, Dakota Marketplace helps you cut through the noise and focus on what matters most.
For more information on these transactions and a deeper dive into their industries and sub-industries, book a demo of Dakota Marketplace.
