Alex Osola

The companies announced the deal today after The Wall Street Journal reported that an agreement was near.

And Sanofi is buying vaccine specialist Dynavax Technologies for $2.2 billion.

The French pharmaceutical company has been using acquisitions to strengthen its lineup of medicines and vaccines after some experimental drugs missed their goals in clinical studies or were turned down by regulators.

In fact, there have been a lot of deals this year, from the merger of railroads Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern to Google's acquisition of cybersecurity startup Wiz.

And there have been big breakups, too, like Kraft Heinz splitting into two companies.

What's been driving all this activity?

And can we expect it to continue next year?

I talked about it with WSJ lead deals reporter Lauren Thomas.

Lauren, how was this year for deals?

One of the things that we've seen from the Trump administration this year is a laxer approach to antitrust.

What are some examples and what impact has that had?

What might be some other reasons we're seeing this wave of deals?

What are some of the factors that you're going to be watching to see whether the year is shaping up to be, you know, as great as some bankers are predicting?

That was WSJ Lead Deals Reporter Lauren Thomas.

Thanks so much, Lauren.

Thank you.

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