OREANDA-NEWS. Fitch Ratings says in its latest European Big Pharma Dashboard that the effects of recent M&A activity continues to negatively affect the ratings headroom for European pharma players as they seek to position themselves in key treatment areas and consolidate market positions.

The dashboard highlights current sector themes such as accelerating M&A activity, supported by liquid financial markets, the focus on R&D productivity and the introduction of new drugs in competitive treatment areas, as well as the emerging competition from biosimilars.

The rating outlook for the sector remains negative, reflecting M&A risk, pressure for higher shareholder returns, and sensitivity to interest-rate rises due to increasing leverage across the sector despite the underlying positive sector drivers.