Deals
Right after reporting a major Phase 3 LAG-3 miss that has rattled analysts, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals revealed a back-loaded partnership with Parabilis Medicines aimed at adding a new drug class to its early-stage pipeline.
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With six acquisitions already this year, Eli Lilly’s business development shows no signs of stopping as executives make good on a promise to spend their GLP-1 gains.
Gilead, AstraZeneca and Vertex have acquired more than just a therapeutic asset in recent deals. BioSpace takes a look at five recent transactions where the staff was the real centerpiece.
Gilead Sciences has inked three deals this year so far totaling $14.77 billion, a marked escalation of the company’s usual M&A pace. Executives detailed the rationale for buying Arcellx, Ouro Medicine and Tubulis GmbH and whether they are interested in further deals.
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Flagship Pioneering’s ProFound Therapeutics will use its proprietary technology to mine the expanded proteome for novel cardiovascular therapeutics. Novartis has promised to pay up to $750 million per target, though it has not specified how many targets it will go after.
Leading companies spent $1.4 billion upfront on licensing deals and embarked on vast R&D programs. Clinical setbacks mean many companies are unlikely to ever recoup their investments.
In May, Revolution Medicines projected its cash and equivalents of $2.1 billion would last into the second half of 2027. With new funding from Royalty Pharma, the biotech has withdrawn that runway end date.
On the sidelines of BIO2025, Julie Gilmore, head of Lilly Gateway Labs, shares her thoughts on the $1.3 billion Verve Therapeutics buy, where Lilly’s therapeutic puck is potentially going and how the company is leveraging its unprecedented success in obesity to support young biotechs.
BioNTech said in 2022 that it faced “threats of a groundless patent infringement suit” from a company that was “unable to bring to market any product to help in the fight against COVID-19.” Now, the mRNA biotech is buying that very company.
Sanofi paid a more than 300% premium on its acquisition of Vigil Neuroscience, suggesting a fierce battle to seal the deal. Across biopharma, companies are sometimes willing to put it all on the line for the right buyout. Novartis’ recent acquisition of Regulus for $800 million upfront provides a case study.
The pending deal was rumored overnight after a report from the Financial Times, spurring analysts to speculate that if true, the entire gene editing space would see a boost at the markets.
Big Pharma executives have not been shy about their desire for deals, but companies have been battling macro headwinds alongside Trump’s policies on drug pricing and tariff threats.
At a satellite kickoff event to the annual BIO meeting, investment bankers and VCs gave reasons for optimism amid a ‘volatile’ period for the industry.
Stifel analysts said the deal “feels like an unremarkable outcome for a company that was once one of the hottest stories in CNS.” Supernus’ offer beats Biogen’s unsolicited bid of about $7.22 per share, which arrived with a thud in late January.