Pharma & Biotech Mergers & Acquisitions News
Biotechnology
US Pharma major AbbVie has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Aliada Therapeutics, a biotech advancing therapies using a novel blood-brain barrier (BBB)-crossing technology to address challenging central nervous system (CNS) diseases. 29 October 2024
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Biotechnology
Family-owned German pharma major Boehringer Ingelheim late yesterday announced the signing of an option to acquire Trutino Biosciences, a privately-held San Diego-based biotech company. 15 June 2022
Pharmaceutical
German pharma major Bayer has highlighted the progress made by its wholly owned San Diego-based subsidiary Vividion Therapeutics. 9 June 2022
Pharmaceutical
Ireland-headquartered fish oil-based heart drug specialist Amarin Corporation yesterday announced important and critical actions including a comprehensive cost and organizational restructuring plan to address current shifts within the company’s US business. 7 June 2022
Biotechnology
Boston, USA-based neuroscience-focused firm Yumanity Therapeutics today announced it has entered into definitive agreements for two strategic transactions, with the news sending the firm’s shares rocketing more than 33% to $1.90 by mid-morning 6 June 2022
Pharmaceutical
The biggest pharmaceutical M&A deal of 2022 so far was announced in May, along with five other notable acquisitions. 6 June 2022
Biotechnology
M&A featured in last week’s news, with UK pharma major GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) announcing on Tuesday that is buying privately-held vaccine maker Affinivax for up to $3.3 billion, and on Friday the USA’s Bristol Myers Squibb revealed a $4.1 billion offer to acquire Turning Point Therapeutics and its lung cancer candidate repotrectinib. On the research front, US biotech Eledon Pharmaceuticals presented positive Phase IIa results for its investigational amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) tegoprubart, and Sage Therapeutics, with partner Biogen, released Phase III data on their zuranolone in the treatment of postpartum depression drug. Also, France’s Sanofi and US partner Regeneron have restructured their licensing deal for the immune-oncology drug Libtayo, with Regeneron gaining worldwide exclusive rights. 5 June 2022
Biotechnology
Announcing its first M&A deal since 2020, Bristol Myers Squibb today said it has entered into a definitive merger agreement to acquire US biotech Turning Point Therapeutics for $76.00 per share, sending the latter’s stock rocketing 116% to $73.76 by mid-morning. 3 June 2022
Pharmaceutical
Investment in artificial intelligence (AI) is on the increase in the pharma industry due to its capacity to drive efficiencies and innovation. 1 June 2022
Pharmaceutical
The USA’s Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice, Antitrust Division, will host a two-day virtual workshop to explore new approaches to enforcing the antitrust laws in the pharmaceutical industry. 1 June 2022
Biotechnology
Bruised by its failure to enter the superlatively lucrative market for coronavirus shots, British drug developer GlaxoSmithKline is to spend billions boosting its vaccines business. 31 May 2022
Biotechnology
German biotech Evotec today announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of the capital of Rigenerand Srl, an Italian cell technology company. 30 May 2022
Biotechnology
Canadian biotech Zymeworks today announced that its board of directors, after thorough consultation with its financial and legal advisors, unanimously determined that the unsolicited, opportunistic, proposal from an activist shareholder, Dubai-based All Blue Falcons and its affiliates to purchase Zymeworks for $10.50 per share (~$773 million in total) substantially undervalues the company and is not in the best interest of the firm and its shareholders. 20 May 2022
Biotechnology
Massachusetts, USA-based biotech incubator Flagship Pioneering announced the unveiling of a new company – Sonata Therapeutics – to develop novel medicines for a wide range of serious diseases based on understanding and re-engineering the cellular microenvironment. 19 May 2022
Biotechnology
Aprea Therapeutics saw its shares tank almost 30% to $0.68, after it revealed it has completed the acquisition of the privately-held USA-based biotechnology company Atrin Pharmaceuticals. 18 May 2022
Biotechnology
Building on a licensing deal with AstraZeneca, British biotech RQ Biotechnolgoy has announced its launch, with a focus on developing antibody treatments and preventive therapies. 17 May 2022
Biotechnology
In the news last week, on Monday Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen announced that it was terminating a license agreement with Denmark’s Bavarian Nordic on potential vaccines for hepatitis B and HPV. On the M&A front, having already invested in the biotech firm, US pharma giant Pfizer last Tuesday announced a full acquisition of Biohaven Pharmaeutical in a deal valuing the company at $11.6 billion, and giving it rights to the migraine drug Nurtec ODT. Also, Japanese drugmaker Otsuka’s Taiho unit has reached an agreement to acquire part of Cullinan Oncology and, in doing so, will regain rights to a lung cancer candidate previously offloaded to the US firm. Meantime, Swiss pharma giant Roche released disappointing Phase III results for its TIGIT blocker tiragolumab in lung cancer. 15 May 2022
Biotechnology
Investment company eureKARE, which is focused on financing and building biotech companies in the disruptive fields of synthetic biology and the microbiome, has announced the emergence of eureKING. 12 May 2022
Pharmaceutical
Tokyo’s Taiho Pharmaceutical, a business of Japanese drug major Otsuka Pharmaceutical, has agreed to buy part of Cullinan Oncology, thereby regaining rights to a candidate it out-licensed in 2019. 12 May 2022
Pharmaceutical
Netherlands-based Qiagen has signed agreements to acquire a 96% majority ownership stake in Blirt SA, a manufacturer of recombinant enzymes for the life science industry based in Gdansk, Poland. 12 May 2022
Biotechnology
Belgium’s cell therapy developer Bone Therapeutics (Euronext: BOTHE) today announced it has entered into a non-binding term sheet and exclusive discussions for a period of three months with the shareholders of Medsenic. 12 May 2022
Biotechnology
AlloVir has entered into a definitive agreement to merge with biopharma company Kalaris Therapeutics. 8 November 2024
Pharmaceutical
European regulators will decide by December 6 whether Novo Holdings, the controlling shareholder of Danish pharma giant Novo Nordisk, can finalize its $16.5 billion acquisition of contract drug manufacturer Catalent. 5 November 2024
Biotechnology
California, USA-based biotech Nektar Therapeutics’ shares closed up more than 8% at $1.33 yesterday after it announced the sale of its only manufacturing facility. 5 November 2024
Pharmaceutical
Pharmaceutical M&A came back with a bang during October, after a quiet September. 5 November 2024
Pharmaceutical
US pharma major AbbVie last week proposed $1.4 billion acquisition of US CNS drug developer Aliada Therapeutics. Last week saw a bunch of third quarter 2024 financials results, among which were Elil Lilly, AbbVie and Merck & Co. Also of note, Lexicon’s type I diabetes drug Zynquista faced a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committee review that resulted in largely negative vote against recommendation. 3 November 2024
Biotechnology
Maryland, USA–based glycobiology specialist GlycoMimetics has entered into an acquisition agreement with Crescent Biopharma, a privately held biotechnology company advancing a pipeline of oncology therapeutics designed to treat solid tumors. 30 October 2024
Biotechnology
German drugmaker Dr Falk Pharma GmbH today announced completion of the acquisition of Kynos Therapeutics, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focusing on the development of novel KMO inhibitors for acute and chronic inflammatory diseases. 29 October 2024
Biotechnology
US Pharma major AbbVie has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Aliada Therapeutics, a biotech advancing therapies using a novel blood-brain barrier (BBB)-crossing technology to address challenging central nervous system (CNS) diseases. 29 October 2024
Biotechnology
Ottimo Pharma, a biotech founded by Medicxi in 2020, has emerged from stealth mode with an executive team packed with prominent industry leaders. 28 October 2024
Biotechnology
Last week Vertex Pharmaceuticals released positive Phase III results for its suzetrigine for moderate-to-severed pain. Belgium’s UCB revealed that Swiss pharma giant Roche was terminating its collaboration on the Alzheimer’s candidate bepranemab. The UK’s health technology assessor the Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) declined to recommend a second Alzheimer’s treatment, this time Eli Lilly’s Kisunla. Also of note, Lyell Immunopharma announced its planned acquisition of ImmPACT Bio and reprioritization of its own clinical pipeline. 27 October 2024
Biotechnology
California, USA-based Lyell Immunopharma (Nasdaq: LYEL) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire privately-held US CAR-T company ImmPACT Bio. 26 October 2024
Biotechnology
Mumbai-based Mankind Pharma has completed its acquisition of Bharat Serums and Vaccines (BSV), adding to its portfolio in the women’s health and fertility market. 24 October 2024
Biotechnology
Ocuphire Pharma has announced its acquisition of Opus Genetics, a clinical-stage gene therapy company focused on treating inherited retinal diseases. 24 October 2024
Biotechnology
Connecticut, USA-based Modifi Biosciences today announced that the company has been acquired by pharma giant Merck & Co 23 October 2024
Pharmaceutical
Melbourne, Australia-based Telix Pharmaceuticals has announced the launch of Rhine Pharma, a subsidiary aimed at increasing global access to radiopharmaceuticals for cancer treatment and imaging. 22 October 2024
Pharmaceutical
French pharma major Sanofi has opened negotiations to sell a 50% controlling stake in its consumer health business Opella to US private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice (CD&R). 21 October 2024
Pharmaceutical
Last week’s significant news included Denmark-based CNS drugmaker Lundbeck reaching agreement to acquire US firm Longboard Pharmaceuticals, along with its bexicaserin, for $2.6 billion. Also, US pharma giant Pfizer entered into a deal with TRIANA Biomedicines to develop molecular glue degraders. On the regulatory front, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week approved Novocure’s key product Optune Lua for lung cancer patients. Also, German biotech BioNTech and its US partner OncoC4 received a partial clinical hold from the FDA on the Phase III trial of gotistobart in lung cancer. The European Medicines Agency’s human health committee, CHMP, Reaffirmed its non-approval of PTC Therapeutic’s Translarna. 20 October 2024
Biotechnology
Taiwan-based REGiMMUNE, a biopharma creating immunotherapies through the power of regulatory T cells (Tregs), and France-based Kiji Therapeutics, a specialist in induced pluripotent stem cells-mesenchymal stem cells (IPSC-MSC) engineered cell therapies for inflammatory diseases, are to merge. 18 October 2024
Biotechnology
Danish CNS specialist Lundbeck today revealed that it has reached to acquire Longboard Pharmaceuticals. 15 October 2024
Biotechnology
USA-based Kezar Life Sciences announced this week that it was pausing its Phase IIb PALIZADE trial evaluating zetomipzomib in lupus nephritis (LN) following the deaths of four patients. 10 October 2024
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