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SAN FRANCISCO — Eric Tokat, biotech’s most prolific dealmaker, believes 2024 will be another strong year for acquisitions, driven by Big Pharma’s need to restock pipelines with medicines that can generate sales in the coming years.

That’s not idle speculation. It’s perhaps as close to a guarantee one can get in biotech. Last year, Tokat’s advisory firm, Centerview Partners, was involved in 19 of the 23 biotech transactions valued at $1 billion or more. Two more acquisitions of Centerview clients — Harpoon Therapeutics and Ambrx Biopharma — were announced Monday morning.

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“I’m not sure if we’re going to have 23 deals or 25 deals, but I think it’s going to be a good year,” said Tokat, speaking to STAT over coffee on the sidelines of the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference.

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