If you have not read part one of this three part article, please find the link here.

As I have already highlighted, the health care industry is subject to many swings that are caused by macroeconomic variables, regulation, trends, and beliefs.  These changes can be hard to pick up on, especially if you are new to the health care industry or if you are not as familiar with it as with more experienced investors.  In the first part of this article, I explained how the Obama Administration and the FDA are shaping the environment for health care companies.  It is very important to understand the relationship between companies and their stakeholders and the major forces in the industry in order to properly evaluate a health care company.

Major M&A Activity

Recently, there has been some major consolidation within the industry as companies are positioning themselves to swallow major patent expirations and unfavorable economic climates. Within the past year, Pfizer (PFE) and Wyeth (WYE), Merck (MRK) and Shering-Plough (SGP), Gilead Sciences (GILD) and CV Therapeutics, Teva (TEVA ) and Barr, and J&J (JNJ) and several smaller companies have already partnered up to weather the storms.