We expect pharmaceutical companies to research cures for our ailments. To judge by the feverish merger and acquisitions activity in the sector, however, they can feel financial maladies of their own coming on and are urgently seeking a remedy.

The most recent deal indicates the scale of activity. Irish pharma company Actavis bought competitor Forest Laboratories for $25 billion last month, the biggest healthcare deal since January last year and second this year only, so far, to the $45 billion bid by telecoms giant Comcast for Time Warner Cable.