Mergers & acquisitions
It’s another wild twist in the story of Galapagos, a company that has been around for more than 25 years but has yet to get a therapy approved.
M&A and IPOs got off to a quick start in 2025 only to crash into a wall of policy challenges. Upfront payment for licensing transactions, however, grew as pharmas looked for less-risky deals.
After multiple rounds of layoffs that cut Kronos down to just 10 people, the small molecule biotech has accepted a buyout offer from Kevin Tang’s Concentra Biosciences.
Many companies have foreshadowed deals to come during earnings calls in recent days. The return of M&A would be a welcome sign for the biopharma ecosystem, which has been battered by macro headwinds such as tariffs and the possibility of new drug pricing pressures.
At the heart of the acquisition is Regulus’ farabursen, an miRNA-targeting oligonucleotide in early-stage development for rare autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease.
GSK’s dealmaking will be “cautious and disciplined” under the current trade war, but the pharma will focus on looking for “opportunities created” amid these tensions, according to CEO Emma Walmsley. The company also reported a 4% earnings bump for the quarter.
It’s been a fraught road for the proposed merger between Acelyrin and Alumis, with Tang Capital’s Concentra Biosciences in February threatening to upend the deal with a proposed $3-per-share acquisition of Acelyrin.
Biohaven will use the money to bankroll commercial preparations for the spinocerebellar ataxia drug candidate troriluzole, which is currently under FDA review with a decision expected in the third quarter.
The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2025. With the deal, Merck KGaA is adding to its rare disease and oncology pipelines.
Roche’s exposure to the tariffs is mostly limited to four medicines, three of which it already produces in the U.S., according to CEO Thomas Schinecker, who declined to reveal what these assets are.
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