Deals
Biogen, Eli Lilly, Merck and Novartis spent more than $20 billion to absorb biotechs with promising or approved drugs; the rare disease space notched approvals for therapies from Denali Therapeutics, Rocket Pharmaceuticals and Biogen; and Wave’s stock lost half its value after its RNA-based obesity candidate failed to impress investors.
FEATURED STORIES
Protagonist Therapeutics will now sit back and collect cash from the J&J partnership, including an immediate $50 million payment.
The major pharmas are loaded up with trillions in firepower—but are sticking to mid-cap deals. One expert says it might be time to think outside the box and shake up the industry with some consolidation.
Whether happening in public or private, biopharma M&A is fiercer than ever. Experts point to patent pressures, herd mentality and a declining stock of available biotechs with mature assets.
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After its next-generation obesity asset CagriSema lost a head-to-head matchup with Eli Lilly’s Zepbound, Novo Nordisk is throwing more money into the obesity space, striking a deal with Vivtex to advance novel weight loss pills.
Ecnoglutide, which Pfizer licensed from Sciwind Biosciences, is already approved in China for type 2 diabetes mellitus, and a marketing application for weight loss has been accepted by regulatory authorities in the country.
In a Phase 1 study, 82% of patients on VIR-5500 achieved at least a 50% reduction in PSA levels—a result analysts praised as competitive in the prostate cancer space.
The centerpiece of the takeover is anito-cel, a CAR T therapy under development for relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. An FDA decision on the therapy is expected by December 2026.
Novartis and Unnatural Products did not specify which disease targets they’re going after, only noting that the latter’s macrocyclic platform can generate potentially next-generation therapies that could apply to cardiovascular conditions.
CSL is advancing clazakizumab for the treatment of cardiovascular events in end-stage kidney disease and will retain rights over the asset in this indication. Lilly will explore other conditions.
The pact between Madrigal Pharmaceuticals and Ruzhou Ribo Life Sciences could complement the former’s Rezdiffra, the first FDA-approved therapy for MASH. That drug made $287.3 million in the third quarter of 2025.
The deal gets Lilly access to Orna’s in vivo CAR T technology. The biotech’s lead asset, which has yet to start clinical testing, is focused on B cell–driven autoimmune diseases.
In this episode of Denatured, Jennifer C. Smith-Parker speaks to Erik Digman Wiklund, CEO of Circio and Jacob Becraft, Co-founder and CEO of Strand Therapeutics. They discuss how post-COVID, emerging platforms like circular and logic circuit RNA are expanding the field’s therapeutic horizons.
The alliance will add to Roche’s RNAi efforts, which include the hypertension candidate zilbesiran, partnered with Alnylam under a July 2023 agreement.