Deals

After the FDA rejection of Zurzuvae in one type of depression and the triple failure of neuro asset dalzanemdor, Sage was searching for a path forward at the end of December 2024. Biogen CEO Chris Viehbacher spied a possible deal, but the smaller company wasn’t interested.
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Faced with the encroaching threats of patent expirations and generics, biopharma companies in 2024 invested 33% more in licensing deals, on average, than in 2023 with an eye toward enriching their pipelines with novel and potentially more effective therapies.
Biogen’s effort to buy Sage against the board’s wishes and a long-time effort by investor Alcorn to scuttle Aurion’s IPO underscore the cutthroat nature of biopharma dealmaking.
Five years ago, Gilead signed a massive deal with Galapagos. After a restructuring, the pharma is still hunting for the potential it saw at the original signing.
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IPO
The deal is a blast from the not-too-distant past, when special purpose acquisition companies were an easy way for companies to list on the public market with a bundle of cash to operate on.
Roche’s Genentech is betting on the Flagship Pioneering–founded company’s discovery platform called DECODE to find new targets for an undisclosed autoimmune disorder.
Alis Biosciences’ plan is a familiar tactic in the private equity world, but the firm will instead be listed on the public markets “in due course.”
Despite making an unsolicited bid for gene therapy maker bluebird bio, Ayrmid failed to deliver a binding offer after weeks of due diligence. Bluebird’s board recommended that it go with Carlyle and SK Capital Partner’s original offer to take the company private for $30 million.
Merck has not disclosed which of its peptide therapies it plans to develop oral formulations for.
The French pharma is getting Black Diamond’s de-prioritized molecule for non-small cell lung cancers with specific mutations whose development had been paused to save money.
Roche’s up to $1 billion investment will provide access to Oxford BioTherapeutics’ antibody-drug conjugate platform for undisclosed cancer targets.
In this episode of Denatured, BioSpace’s Head of Insights Lori Ellis and Miruna Sasu, CEO of COTA, discuss the challenges of inclusion and exclusion criteria of clinical trial patients, and reflect on current investment approaches around women’s health.
Roche and Zealand plan to study petrelintide as a monotherapy and in combination with CT-388, a dual agonist of the GLP-1 and GIP receptors that Roche picked up in its recent acquisition of Carmot Therapeutics.
Analysts acknowledged the long-term manufacturing deal could dull Viking’s takeout prospects but hailed it as a smart move to ensure supply.