Pharma & Biotech Mergers & Acquisitions News
Pharmaceutical
Big pharmas are not deterred by China’s increasingly complex business environment. Instead, they are changing strategies to minimize risks while continuing to benefit from China, said speakers at ChinaTrials held last week in Shanghai. 18 November 2024
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Pharmaceutical
Anglo-Irish company Amryt Pharma has long held ambitions of following in the footsteps of Shire, the rare diseases company that was acquired by Takeda four years ago. 9 January 2023
Pharmaceutical
French pharma firm Ipsen is to acquire the liver disease specialist Albireo, a company focused on the therapeutic potential of bile-acid modulators. 9 January 2023
Biotechnology
Boston, USA-based Ensoma, a genomic medicines company developing one-time in vivo treatments that precisely engineer any cell of the hematopoietic system, has announced the completion of an $85 million financing. 9 January 2023
Biotechnology
After an active M&A year in 2022, UK pharma major AstraZeneca kicked off 2023 with an agreement to acquire USA-based clinical stage biotech CinCor Pharma. 9 January 2023
Biotechnology
Among featured research news last week, US pharma giant Pfizer impressed when it released positive Phase III data on its hemophilia B gene therapy fidanacogene elaparvovec. Italian drugmaker Newron Pharmaceuticals last Monday released what it called “compelling” trial results for its antipsychotic candidate evenamide. Also, Deciphera Pharmaceuticals last Tuesday touted the benefits of its gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) drug Qinlock. Kicking off the 2023 M&A season, US mRNA specialist Moderna last Wednesday announced its first ever full acquisition, that of Japanese firm OriCiro Genomics for $85 million. Fate Therapeutics has terminated its deal with Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen to develop CAR-T cell therapies for cancer targets. 8 January 2023
Pharmaceutical
Professional services company PwC has released a new report, PwC’s Next In Pharma and Life Sciences 2023 Report. This highlights the outlook for the pharmaceutical and life sciences industry, and the biggest c-suite agenda topics that will shape 2023. 6 January 2023
Pharmaceutical
Mergers and acquisition (M&A) activity in India is heating up. The surge in transactions in the pharmaceutical industry saw 16 deals during 2022 - seemingly the largest number in a decade, worth several billion dollars in value. 6 January 2023
Biotechnology
US immunology specialist Acelyrin has acquired ValenzaBio, a privately-held company developing therapies for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, in an all-stock transaction. 5 January 2023
Biotechnology
Taking advantage of the vast cash pile generated by the success of its COVID-19 vaccine Spikevax, US mRNA therapeutics and vaccines specialist Moderna (Nasdaq: MRNA) today announced its first out-right acquisition since its launch in 2020. 4 January 2023
Biotechnology
A planned merger between US biotech Sesen Bio and privately-held firm Carisma Therapeutics has run into headwinds. 4 January 2023
Pharmaceutical
Canadian firm Aurinia Pharmaceuticals and India’s Sun Pharmaceutical have moved quickly to settle a patent dispute in the US market. 4 January 2023
Biotechnology
During the whole of 2022, merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the pharma and biotech sector showed a slight improvement on 2021, when it fell to a decade low of just 92 deals, with a total number of 109 (See table below). 2 January 2023
Biotechnology
US biotech major Gilead Science today revealed that its Kite subsidiary has reached agreement to acquire privately-held Tmunity Therapeutics, a start-up set up by Carl June and his colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania and with former Novartis heavyweight Usman ‘Oz’ Azam as chief executive. 20 December 2022
Generics
In what could well be India's biggest pharma deal, China's Fosun Pharma-owned Gland Pharma is on the block. A number of private equity firms have been approached, including Baring Private Equity, Bain Capital, Blackstone, Carlyle, and KKR. 19 December 2022
Biotechnology
Last week saw the announcements of the biggest pharmaceutical M&A and licensing deals of the year. US biotech giant Amgen, which will soon be facing competition from biosimilars, agreed to fork out around $28 billion to acquire Horizon Therapeutics. Another US biotech, Clovis Oncology, has finally thrown in the towel, filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and a “stalking-horse” deal with Novartis. Japan’s largest drugmaker Takeda announced a licensing deal with Nimbus Therapeutics for the latter’s autoimmune candidate NDI-034858, re-coded TAK-279, paying a massive $4 billion upfront. 19 December 2022
Biotechnology
USA-based Immix Biopharma, which is pioneering tissue-specific therapeutics (TSTx) targeting oncology and immuno-dysregulated diseases, saw its shares leap more than 41% to $2.07, after it announced a licensing deal and the formation of a new subsidiary. 16 December 2022
Biotechnology
Pennsylvania, USA-based CNS specialist Vallon Pharmaceuticals’ stock price soared an initial 230% to $0.85, after the company unveiled plans to merge its operations with privately-held biotech GRI Bio in an all-stock transaction. 15 December 2022
Biotechnology
Replay, a genome writing company reprogramming biology by writing and delivering big DNA, has announced the launch of Kaleibe, a herpes simplex virus (HSV) gene therapy company targeting genetic brain disorders. 14 December 2022
Biotechnology
Troubled US biotech Clovis Oncology has officially filed for bankruptcy in Delaware, hit by a fall in its cancer drug sales and challenges in raising additional capital, and will also seek to sell its assets through a court supervised sales process. 13 December 2022
Biotechnology
Coming as no surprise following rumors for the last couple of weeks, but with a much bigger price tag than had been expected, US biotech giant Amgen today announced that it is to acquire Horizon Therapeutics. 12 December 2022
Pharmaceutical
Swiss pharma giant Novartis today announced an upgrade to its mid-term guidance, in advance of its Meet Novartis Management event for investors and analysts in London. 21 November 2024
Biotechnology
Aizen Therapeutics, an AI-driven biotech headquartered in San Diego, has officially launched from stealth mode, introducing its drug discovery platform, DaX. 21 November 2024
Biotechnology
Massachusetts, USA-based firm VBI Vaccines has initiated a nationwide voluntary recall of PreHevbrio (hepatitis B vaccine), as it proceeds with bankruptcy and the shutdown of its operations. 19 November 2024
Pharmaceutical
Big pharmas are not deterred by China’s increasingly complex business environment. Instead, they are changing strategies to minimize risks while continuing to benefit from China, said speakers at ChinaTrials held last week in Shanghai. 18 November 2024
Biotechnology
Last week saw US pharma major AbbVie release disappointing Phase II trial results on its emraclidine in schizophrenia, which benefited Bristol Myers Squibb. Also on the research front, Germany’s Merck KGaA and Abbisko’s pimicotinib showed positive results in tenosynovial giant cell tumor (TGCT). M&A news saw German BioNTech punting $800 million upfront to acquire China based oncology focused Biotheus. Also of note, US drugmaker Halozyme Therapeutics made an unsolicited takeover bid for Evotec, valuing the German firm, at around 2 billion euros. 17 November 2024
Biosimilars
South Korean biosimilars company Celltrion today announced its acquisition of iQone Healthcare Switzerland a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on distribution, sales, and marketing in Switzerland. 15 November 2024
Biotechnology
Shares of German drug discovery company Evotec leapt 20% to 10.33 euros this morning on the revelation that the USA’s Halozyme Therapeutics has submitted a non-binding proposal to acquire Evotec for 11.00 euros per share in cash, implying a fully-diluted equity value of around 2.0 billion euros ($2.12 billion). 15 November 2024
Biotechnology
BeiGene has announced plans to rebrand as BeOne Medicines, a move the cancer specialist says reflects its commitment to fighting cancer through collaboration. 15 November 2024
Pharmaceutical
Life science investor Syncona has announced the launch of its newest portfolio company, Slingshot Therapeutics, through the Syncona Accelerator initiative. 14 November 2024
Biotechnology
Although it is seeing a downturn in sales and profits, German biotech BioNTech is continuing to acquire assets with the cash pile it made through the covid pandemic, notably iis Comirnaty vaccine that was developed with Pfizer (NYSE: PFE). 13 November 2024
Biotechnology
Trace Neuroscience, a newly launched biopharma based in San Francisco, aims to advance treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, starting with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). 12 November 2024
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
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