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
Today's issue
Refine Search
Latest Mergers & Acquisitions News & Features
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
Grifols today announced it has executed purchase arrangements with the South Korean-based GC Pharma (formerly known as Green Cross Corporation) whereby Grifols will acquire the Montreal, Canada-based plasma fractionation facility. 20 July 2020
Pharmaceutical
The total value of M&A deals in the pharmaceutical and biotech sector was down by more than 88.5% in the first half of 2020, compared to the same period in 2019. 17 July 2020
Pharmaceutical
Denmark-headquartered Abacus Medicine is set to acquire Dutch pharmaceutical wholesaler Pluripharm Group. 13 July 2020
Biotechnology
US biopharma Unum Therapeutics has completed the acquisition of Kiq, a privately-held biotech focused on the discovery and development of precision kinase inhibitors. 6 July 2020
Pharmaceutical
Some of pharma's most acquisitive companies have been at it again in June. 3 July 2020
Pharmaceutical
Last week saw Gilead Sciences reveal it was buying a 49.9% stake in immune-oncology-focussed Pionyr Immunotherapeutics and taking an option to acquire the rest of the company. On the regulatory front, India’s Glenmark Pharmaceuticals gained marketing approval for its favipiravir product FabiFlu on its domestic market for the treatment of COVID-19. Also, AbbVie and Allergan received a complete response letter (CRL) from the US Food and Drug Administration for their DARPin therapy abicipar pegol. Deal-making news included Sanofi entering a multi-billion licensing accord with USA-based Translate Bio for its infectious disease vaccines, and Dutch biotech uniQure entered into a deal with Australian CSL Limited’s CSL Behring unit on its hemophilia B drug etranacogene dezaparvovec. 28 June 2020
Biotechnology
US biotech Gilead Sciences has announced that it will pay $275 million to acquire a 49.9% equity interest in privately-held Pionyr Immunotherapeutics and an exclusive option to purchase the remainder of the immuno-oncology (I-O) company. 23 June 2020
Biotechnology
Set against a backdrop of fraught Sino-American relations, WuXi NextCODE hopes that a company rebrand will help ensure stability and future growth. 23 June 2020
Generics
Shares of London-listed generics drugmaker Hikma Pharmaceuticals were down 7.38% at £22.97 by early afternoon today, after German family-owned pharma major Boehringer Ingelheim revealed it was selling its equity stake in the generics and injectables company. 23 June 2020
Biotechnology
British cell therapy specialist Rexgenero has bought all the key assets of Paris-based immunotherapy company aratinga.bio, a preclinical-stage firm developing an off-the-shelf CAR-T cell therapy. 22 June 2020
Generics
Perrigo Company today announced that it has reached a definitive agreement to sell its UK-based Rosemont Pharmaceuticals business, a generic prescription pharmaceuticals manufacturer focused on liquid medicines, to an unnamed UK-headquartered private equity firm for £156 million ($195 million) in cash. 19 June 2020
Pharmaceutical
Last week’s news included positive Phase III data from Alnylam for its primary hyperoxaluria 1 (PH1) drug lumasiran, and GenScript Biotech’s flotation of Legend Biotech. Also of note, Genmab signed a deal worth a potential $4 billion with AbbVie, largely focussed on its hematological drug candidate epcoritamab, and Novo Nordisk moved further out of its diabetes care comfort zone, forking out a potential $2.1 billion for a planned acquisition of Corvidia and its lead candidate ziltivekimab for kidney disease. 14 June 2020
Biotechnology
In its first full acquisition in the last couple of years, Danish diabetes care giant Novo Nordisk (NOV: N) today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to buy Corvidia Therapeutics, a privately held, clinical stage company focused on the research and development of transformative therapies for cardio-renal diseases. 11 June 2020
Biotechnology
San Diego, USA-based biotech DelMar Pharmaceuticals’ shot up 20% pre-market today, as it revealed the signing of a definitive merger agreement with Adgero Biopharmaceuticals, a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of its late-stage photodynamic therapy platform for the treatment of serious cutaneous oncology indications. 10 June 2020
Biotechnology
A company formed as a spinout from Cancer Research UK-funded science at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), London, has been publicly launched. 10 June 2020
Pharmaceutical
Investors and analysts could have been excused for coughing up a few corn flakes as they read Sunday morning’s report from Bloomberg revealing that AstraZeneca had approached Gilead Sciences about a mega-merger last month. 9 June 2020
Biotechnology
Picking up on a 2017 option agreement, Australian biotech firm CSL Limited’s Behring unit late Monday said it is acquiring its privately-held Canadian collaboration partner. 9 June 2020
Pharmaceutical
Given that much of the world was on lockdown, May was a surprisingly busy month for pharmaceutical M&A, and it has been combined with April due to that month's lack of deals. 5 June 2020
Pharmaceutical
Belgium’s largest drugmaker UCB today announced the acquisition of Engage Therapeutics, a New Jersey, USA-based clinical-stage pharmaceutical company developing Staccato alprazolam for the rapid termination of an active epileptic seizure. 5 June 2020
Pharmaceutical
Having last month amended its March offer to acquire Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals, California-based AcelRx Pharmaceuticals today announced that it does not intend to revise further its offer under the terms of its previously announced agreement and it expects the agreement to be terminated by Tetraphase. 4 June 2020
Sign up to receive email updates
Join industry leaders for a daily roundup of biotech & pharma news
Copyright © The Pharma Letter 2024 | Headless Content Management with Blaze