Pfizer, Novartis and Abbott reportedly are battling to buy out family-owned Ache, Brazil’s leader in prescription drug sales.

Pfizer, Novartis and Abbott reportedly are battling to buy out family-owned Ache, Brazil’s leader in prescription drug sales. Plus deals involving AstraZeneca and AlphaCore, Pfizer and Bind Therapeutics and Merck and Ra Pharma.

Biopharmaceutical company financings more than doubled to $2.7 billion from Q3. There were 23 acquisitions bringing in a total of $17.7 billion. And in alliances there was a focus on biosimilars, oncology and neurology deals, and unique partnerships with clear paths to exits.

Highlights from the Q2 2010 review of pharmaceutical and biotechnology dealmaking: Biopharma companies raised a total of $3.4bn through 96 financings. Twenty-one acquisitions together reached $20.2bn, thanks to five deals each exceeding $3 billion - in aggregate accounting for 91% of the M&A total. The alliance volume was up to 115 transactions for a total of $2.8 billion in pre-commercialization money, with seven deals surpassing the $100 million mark.