The pharmaceutical industry is quite predictable. Due to the fact that patent protection expires, pharmaceutical companies are always looking to either acquire patent portfolios or simply buy up whole companies. This is particularly true of giant pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer (NYSE:PFE). It appears that, once a company reaches a certain size, it can either research its way into new product lines so that its growth can be preserved, or it can just buy that growth.
If you look back at the recent history of large pharmaceutical companies, ranging from Glaxo (NYSE:GSK) to Pfizer and other large companies, you would see one recurring pattern: they acquire smaller companies with newer patents, so they can hit their growth targets. Well, it looks like Pfizer is on the hunt for companies to acquire.