While Novartis secured the biggest deal of the fourth quarter, a handful of riveting tales emerged from the bottom of the M&A list, including a zombie buyout and a bidding war. And no, we’re not talking about Metsera.
The biggest deal of the fourth quarter was Novartis’ $11.3 billion takeover of neuromuscular specialist Avidity Biosciences, but a handful of small, biotech-on-biotech transactions in the eight- to nine-figure range made for a spirited quarter.
Besides the Novartis deal, there were seven transactions that landed in the billion-dollar range, including Merck’s $9.2 billion Cidara Therapeutics deal andNovo Nordisk’s buy of MASH-focused Akero Therapeutics for $4.9 billion.
Sanofi and BioMarin also got in a few deals under the wire before Christmas. Sanofi picked up vaccine maker Dynavax in a deal valued at $2.2 billion. The biotech will contribute an approved hepatitis B vaccine called Heplisav-B and a singles vaccine candidate to the French drugmaker.
Meanwhile, BioMarin has offered $4.8 billion to buy Amicus Therapeutics, gaining two approved rare disease therapies.
The list comes from S&P Capital IQ’s database of deals announced in the fourth quarter. There were 20 total deals for the quarter. Pfizer’s dramatic showdown with Novo for Metsera, for a final pricetag of $9.8 billion, is not included, as the New York pharma announced its purchase of the obesity startup back in Q3.
This list does contain a collection of deals between smaller companies. Alkermes, with a market cap of just $4.6 billion, bought sleep biotech Avadel for $2.1 billion, after a brief bidding war with Lundbeck.
That back and forth was perhaps inspired by the protracted Metsera deal, easily the craziest M&A action of the quarter thanks to Novo’s rival, unsolicited proposal. But Pfizer secured its prize thanks to regulatory security, and the deal closed in November.
Lower down the list was Mirum Pharmaceuticals’ acquisition of rare disease biotech Bluejay Therapeutics in early December, valued at $805 million. The deal centered on brelovitug, a Phase III antibody for chronic hepatitis delta virus (HDV).
An ominous deal on the list is XOMA Royalty’s offer to buy Generation Bio for $55 million. XOMA is known as a biotech cleanup crew, picking up struggling companies to break them down into pieces for remaining value. In the third quarter, XOMA picked up three struggling companies. It returned in Q4 for Generation, after a tough year that saw the bulk of the company’s staff let go in April.
Check out BioSpace’s other quarterly roundups for 2025:
M&A, IPOs Snarled by Policy Reality in Q1 as Pharmas Opt for Licensing Deals
June’s Busy Buyout Binge Bolsters M&A Stats for H1
Q3 Saw Some of the Highest-Value Biopharma Acquisitions of the Year So Far
