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The banker allegedly shared details of a series of multibillion-dollar buyouts by companies including AbbVie, GSK and Pfizer.
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2026 is set to be a banner year for M&A in biopharma, as buyers facing major patent cliffs fight for a small pool of late-stage assets.
Metsera showed the biopharma world that M&A is back. Who could be next?
These deals radically reshaped the biopharma world, either by one vaccine rival absorbing another, a Big Pharma doubling down after another failed acquisition or, in the case of Pfizer and Novo, two heavyweights duking it out over a hot obesity biotech.
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The layoffs will allow Ironwood to dedicate more resources to pushing its lead molecule apraglutide through a Phase III trial and a rolling NDA submission.
The J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference started off with a flurry of deals that reinvigorated excitement across the biopharma industry. Johnson & Johnson moved to acquire Intra-Cellular Therapies for $14.6 billion, breaking a dealmaking barrier that kept Big Pharma’s 2024 biotech buyouts to under $5 billion.
The layoffs follow an announcement in early January that I-Mab will re-prioritize resources to focus on advancing a CLDN18.2 and 4-1BB bispecific antibody for gastric cancers.
The move is part of a strategic restructuring aimed at getting azenosertib to the market for patients with gynecological malignancies.
Donald Trump continues to make waves in biopharma; Sage rejects Biogen’s unsolicited takeover offer; the obesity space sees more action with new company launches, IPOs and fresh data; and experts get ready for an important era in the Duchenne muscular dystrophy space.
Atara Biotherapeutics’ layoffs could leave the biotech with around 80 employees. The cuts follow news that the FDA rejected Ebvallo, a T cell therapy approved in Europe for a transplant-related blood cancer, and placed a clinical hold on the company’s active drug applications.
Landing a job remains challenging for life sciences professionals, according to a new BioSpace report. While 59% of surveyed organizations are actively recruiting, nearly half of unemployed survey respondents had been out of work for at least six months, and 20% of surveyed employers expect to lay off employees this year.
The company, co-founded by Nobel Laureate Craig Mello, aims to push molecules for Huntington’s and a form of epilepsy into Phase I trials, with additional preclinical assets targeting Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
Versant Ventures continues to invest in the increasingly competitive obesity space, this time launching Helicore with $65 million and a GIP-targeting asset intended to induce higher-quality weight loss.
Starboard last year took a $1 billion stake in Pfizer, looking to turn the pharma around after alleged severe shortcomings by its current leadership. But Bloomberg reports it has missed the deadline for nominating a director to the pharma’s board.