CNBC's Jim Cramer said Monday that he is disappointed by the recent performance of pharmaceutical stocks, saying there should be far more deals in the health-care space.
"Pharma companies have been among the worst performers," said Cramer, whose charitable trust owns shares of pharmaceutical companies Allergan and Eli Lilly. "They are accepting their underperformance like nothing I've ever seen."
"I keep thinking I'm going to see a big deal involving an Amgen, involving a Regeneron, involving a Sanofi, involving a Bristol-Myers," Cramer said on "Squawk on the Street." "Nothing."
The SPDR S&P Pharmaceuticals ETF (XPH), which tracks drug stocks, was more than 2 percent lower Monday, with Nektar Therapeutics responsible for the bulk of that decline, down 41 percent. The ETF has fallen more than 4 percent year to date.
There had been an expectation of a pickup in M&A activity as a result of the passage of the new tax bill late last year, which lowered the corporate tax rate.
Cramer said despite pharma's underperformance, he likes biotech stocks, which have been making a bit of a comeback this year.
The SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI), which was more than 1 percent lower Monday, has risen more than 10 percent year to date and more than 30 percent over the past year. Additionally, The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB) is up 1 percent so far this year.
The "Mad Money" host spoke after the announcement of a major deal in the technology industry: Microsoft's plans to acquire software developer platform GitHub for $7.5 billion in stock.