Nothing like a drying pipeline to spur an acquisition, or an alliance, or a licensing deal. And there were certainly enough in 2008, given the dire straits confronting many large drugmakers. But which deal was truly clever, captivating and, most of all, potentially lucrative?

What about the tie-up between Pfizer and Ranbaxy? Pfizer walked away with extra 20 months of Lipitor patent exclusivity and Ranbaxy got the right to sell generic versions in November 2011 in the US, and sell generics in some other countries. How about Lilly scooping up ImClone Systems? Or the Novartis diversification move to pay $11 billion for 25 percent of Alcon?

Well, the In Vivo blog, which tracks such things closely all year long, is running a poll. So you can decide for yourselves right here. And no, only consummated deals count, even if the Roche move to buy the rest of Genentech does offer some interesting drama.