- Healthcare 150
- Posts
- GLP-1s Go Prime Time, Sub-$50M M&A Rebounds, and 67% Back Specialty Care
GLP-1s Go Prime Time, Sub-$50M M&A Rebounds, and 67% Back Specialty Care
Pharma pushes weight-loss drugs to the mass market and small deals clear 4 in 60 days, while India’s patient satisfaction drops to 46%.
Good morning, ! Today we’re tracking the sub-$50M healthcare M&A rebound, the GLP-1 surge reshaping pharma’s consumer strategy, where 67% of M&A pros see specialty care holding up (vs. 42% of C-suites backing HCIT), and why Malaysia’s 75% satisfaction rate — versus India’s 46% — could signal rising regulatory pressure across Asia.
Sponsor Spotlight: Whereby is a healthcare-first video call API designed to help platforms deliver secure, reliable visits while reducing friction that drives no-shows, drop-offs, and support cost. Their article breaks down the hidden cost of “good enough” telehealth video and why visible trust signals matter as teams scale. Read the full breakdown →
— The Healthcare150 Team
REGIONAL FOCUS
Asia-Pacific’s Satisfaction Divide
Healthcare satisfaction across Asia-Pacific is fragmenting, not converging.
Malaysia stands out, improving from 72% in 2018 to 75% in 2025, the highest among surveyed markets. South Korea edged up modestly from 50% to 52%, signaling incremental gains rather than structural reform. Japan remains low but stable, moving from 34% to 35%.
The sharper signal is deterioration. Australia dropped from 71% to 64%, and India saw the steepest decline, from 55% to 46%.
The implication is not cultural. It is system strain. Markets with rising expectations and reimbursement pressure are struggling to convert investment into perceived value. In contrast, Malaysia’s improvement suggests better alignment between capacity expansion and patient experience.
For operators and investors, satisfaction is an early warning indicator. Declines often precede political intervention, pricing reform, or capital reallocation. Markets with falling public confidence face higher regulatory risk and tougher margin environments.
Why this matters now: As capital flows toward Asia for growth, not all markets offer the same stability. Sentiment divergence may shape reimbursement policy, private sector opportunity, and M&A appetite heading into 2026. (More)
PRESENTED BY WHEREBY
Switching video infrastructure can feel painful, but sticking with a “good enough” solution has a cost too.
When security and privacy aren’t communicated clearly, when calls fail or glitch, or when UX adds friction, the impact becomes measurable: lower patient engagement, higher no-shows and drop-offs, increased support and operating costs, and greater churn risk.
Whereby breaks down how these costs show up in practice and why early evaluation lowers risk by creating options before you’re forced into a rushed decision.
Supporting our sponsors supports our free newsletters. Please support our sponsors!
HEADLINE OF THE WEEK
GLP-1 Weight-Loss Drugs Go Prime Time : Pharma’s Consumer Playbook Shifts, Advertising & Pricing Dynamics Reset
This week, companies including Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly, Ro, and Hims & Hers splashed a new class of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs across Super Bowl ad real estate, exposing one of biopharma’s fastest-growing markets to mass consumer branding and direct-to-consumer messaging — a development that accelerates market adoption, reshapes competitive positioning, and lifts pricing pressure across digital health and drug delivery models.
So What?
This isn’t marketing theatre — it marks a structural shift in how blockbuster therapeutic categories are commercialized: by blending clinical benefits with mainstream brand narratives, firms are priming broader demand, forcing incumbents and disruptors alike to reevaluate customer acquisition strategies, regulatory risk around consumer advertising, and long-term pricing power in a category projected to be one of the largest growth drivers in healthcare markets.
MICROSURVEY
Where Healthcare M&A Will Hold Up in 2026 (Hint: It Depends Who You Ask)
Healthcare M&A may be slowing, but resilience is showing up in very specific places. In our latest microsurvey, respondents were nearly evenly split on where deal activity is most likely to hold up over the next 12 months — a sign that capital is becoming more selective, not sidelined.
Across all respondents, value-based care models and life sciences tools & services narrowly lead, with healthcare IT & data platforms and specialty care providers close behind. But dig deeper, and the picture sharpens. Healthcare M&A professionals (67%) and cardiologists (50%) overwhelmingly point to specialty care providers as the most resilient target, reflecting strong conviction among those closest to clinical demand and deal execution.
Meanwhile, 42% of C-suite respondents favor healthcare IT & data platforms, underscoring continued demand for scalable, software-driven assets that improve efficiency and generate recurring revenue.
The takeaway: healthcare M&A resilience won’t be broad — it will be precise, driven by assets with clear demand, defensible economics, and credible paths to scale. (More)
DEAL OF THE WEEK
The Lower Middle Market Wakes Up
VERTESS closed four sell-side transactions across DME, nutrition services, and behavioral health in a span of roughly 60 days, signaling that healthcare services M&A is no longer waiting for macro clarity.
The buyers matter. AdaptHealth continued national DME roll-up activity with its acquisition of Hawaii-based Gammie HomeCare, reinforcing that scaled platforms are still expanding regionally despite reimbursement pressure. In diabetic footwear, Anodyne’s purchase of Dia-Foot underscores steady consolidation in niche orthopedic DME.
More telling is capital type. Arizona-based Conscious Capital Growth acquired RD Nutrition Consultants, highlighting renewed lower middle-market sponsor appetite for asset-light, clinically focused services. Meanwhile, a founder-led Connecticut behavioral health platform sold to an individual buyer, reinforcing sustained demand for mental health assets.
None of these are billion-dollar headlines. That is the point.
Why this matters now: After two sluggish years, sub-$50M enterprise value healthcare deals are clearing again. Strategics are expanding, independents are exiting, and capital is flowing back into fragmented service niches. The recovery in healthcare M&A is starting from the bottom up. (More)
PUBLISHER PODCAST
No Off Button: He Built North America's Largest AI Conference (& Had A Winning Exit)
Champions don’t quit when the plan breaks—they adapt. No Off Button is Aram’s publisher-led podcast honoring founders, executives, and creators who don’t have an off switch. Each episode spotlights operators who keep building through pivots, pressure, and imperfect conditions.
This week’s guest is Michael Weiss, co-founder of Ai4, the largest AI conference in North America. Michael walks through the pivot that changed everything—from an ambitious attempt to revive the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair to identifying AI as the defining opportunity of the decade before the boom. The conversation unpacks the realities of the event business, the discipline behind timing a market, and why surviving the compounding phase matters more than chasing early wins.
Why it matters: this episode is a blueprint for founders and investors alike—niche selection, execution, and resilience are what turn failed ideas into category-defining outcomes.
Whereby helps telehealth platforms deliver reliable, compliant embedded video calls and reduce the operational drag that comes from fragile infrastructure.
Supporting our sponsors supports our free newsletters. Please support our sponsors!
"You'll never do a whole lot unless you're brave enough to try."
Dolly Parton