Look back at pharma news in the week to June 28

By Barbara Obstoj-Cardwell. Editor

On the M&A front last week, the spotlight was on AbbVie’s proposed $63 billion acquisition of troubled drugmaker Allergan, which gained a great deal of attention, as well as Bristol-Myers divestment of psoriasis drug Otezla in order to proceed with its $74 billion bid for Celegene. Research news included Conatus Pharmaceuticals’ setback with the failure of its non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) candidate CTS-2099, adding to a litany of disappointments in the search of a treatment for this liver disease. Meantime, Gilead Sciences entered into a couple of licensing deals linking up with Carna Biosciences on next-generation immuno-oncology compounds and with Nurix on cancer and other diseases.

A Botox filler AbbVie’s Humira-shaped hole