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
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
Pharmaceutical
Germany’s MorphoSys said yesterday that it will account for a non-cash impairment charge on goodwill in the amount of approximately 231 million euros ($255 million). 11 March 2022
Pharmaceutical
German CNS specialist Neuraxpharm Group today announced the expansion of its business in Southeast Europe through the acquisition of Greece-headquartered Brain Therapeutics, a CNS-focused marketing and distribution company with longstanding expertise in commercialization of CNS products in Greece, Cyprus and the Balkan countries. 8 March 2022
Pharmaceutical
India’s Biocon announced a $3.3 billion deal to acquire the recently set up generics powerhouse Viatris’ biosimilars assets. US pharma giant Pfizer became the latest to hit a roadblock in its attempts to develop a Clostridioides difficile vaccine, (PF-06425090), reporting mixed results from a Phase III trial. Meantime, AstraZeneca and Sanofi presented positive new Phase III data on their RSV disease candidate nirsevimab last Wednesday. Also, drug developer Karyopharm suffered a setback with its endometrial p53 wild-type candidate Xpovio (selinexor). 6 March 2022
Biotechnology
Rondo Therapeutics, a new immune-oncology-focused biotech based in San Francisco, USA, today emerged from stealth mode with its announcement of an oversubscribed $67 million Series A round of funding. 2 March 2022
Pharmaceutical
Big pharma's major players kept out of the M&A market in February, with the exception of the Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen, which announced a deal to buy Anakuria Therapeutics for an undisclosed sum. 1 March 2022
Pharmaceutical
Syndesi Therapeutics has been acquired by AbbVie for up to $1 billion, which will help to expand AbbVie’s neuroscience portfolio. 1 March 2022
Pharmaceutical
Germany’s Heidelberg Pharma has gained a potentially significant route into the Chinese market via a blockbuster licensing deal. 1 March 2022
Biosimilars
Biocon subsidiary Biocon Biologics has agreed to buy the biosimilars unit of Viatris for $3.3 billion. 28 February 2022
Biotechnology
Among significant news last week, US biotech Synairgen’s COVID-19 therapy SNG001 missed endpoints in a Phase III study of hospitalized patients. BioNTech announced a deal with fellow German company Medigene for the discovery of cancer immunotherapeutics. Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline have now developed Phase III clinical trial data that prepares then for regulatory filings for their investigational COVID-19 vaccine. US biotech Moderna released financial results last Thursday that were very much focussed on the performance of its COVID-19 vaccine Spikevax. Also, Amicus Therapeutics announced that its planned SPAC deal with ARYA Sciences has been terminated. 27 February 2022
Pharmaceutical
US neuroscience drug developer Biohaven Pharmaceutical on Friday announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Channel Biosciences, a subsidiary of Knopp Biosciences. 26 February 2022
Biotechnology
ARYA Sciences Acquisition Corp IV , a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) sponsored by Perceptive Advisors, announced on Thursday that, due to existing market conditions, it has mutually agreed with Amicus Therapeutics terminate their previously announced business combination agreement, effective immediately. 25 February 2022
Pharmaceutical
Cadila Healthcare has changed its name to Zydus Lifesciences. 24 February 2022
Pharmaceutical
Switzerland-headquartered Galderma and US generics drugmaker Taro Pharmaceutical Industries have signed a definitive agreement for Taro to acquire Alchemee, formerly The Proactiv Company (TPC), from Galderma, a leading independent dermatology company. 23 February 2022
Biotechnology
Sweden-headquartered contract development and manufacturing organization Recipharm is on the M&A path again, having announced its intention earlier this month to acquire Portuguese CDMO GenIbet, today it revealed two more buys. 18 February 2022
Biotechnology
Third Harmonic Bio, a US clinical-stage company developing a first-in-class, highly selective, oral KIT inhibitor for treatment of severe allergy and inflammation, today launched from stealth, with the closing of a Series B financing that brings the total capital raised to date to $155 million. 16 February 2022
Generics
India's pharmaceutical sector is seeing a lot of M&A and fund-raising activity. 15 February 2022
Biotechnology
US private, precision oncology company Varian Biopharmaceuticals, which is developing novel therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, and SPK Acquisition Corp (SPK) (Nasdaq: SPK), a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), today announced it has entered into a definitive merger agreement for a business combination that will result in Varian Bio becoming a publicly-traded company. 15 February 2022
Pharmaceutical
Switzerland-based Roivant Sciences has launched a new Vant subsidiary, Hemavant, which has entered into a licensing agreement with Japanese drugmaker Eisai for exclusive global rights to the investigational agent RVT-2001 (previously H3B-8800,) a potential first-in-class small molecule SF3B1 modulator. 15 February 2022
Pharmaceutical
Shares of specialty drugmaker BioDelivery Sciences International shot up 52% to $3.64 in pre-market trading today, after it agreed to be acquired by fellow USA-based Collegium Pharmaceuticals. 14 February 2022
Biotechnology
Canada-based companies Imagia Cybernetics, AI-healthcare company, and Canexia Health have announced their planned merger, which is expected to close at the end of February, subject to shareholder approval. 11 February 2022
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