Deals
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Alkermes follows up restructuring with Rodin acqusition
Worth up to $950 million, the deal will give Alkermes access to a preclinical pipeline aimed at diseases rooted in disrupted synapses like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
By Jonathan Gardner • Nov. 18, 2019 -
Dicerna links up with Novo in its 5th, likely final, liver-focused R&D deal
The Danish drugmaker will use the biotech's RNAi platform to develop therapies for diseases like NASH, diabetes and obesity.
By Andrew Dunn • Nov. 18, 2019 -
Roche wagers $1.4B that Promedior has its next big fibrosis drug
Promedior's main drug targets a lung disease known as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and could help Roche once orphan exclusivity runs out on Esbriet.
By Jacob Bell • Nov. 15, 2019 -
Sarepta brings in more gene therapies with StrideBio deal
The deal adds four more neuromuscular candidates to the Exondys maker's already-rich pipeline.
By Jonathan Gardner • Nov. 14, 2019 -
Merck wants to know if taking out cellular trash can treat Alzheimer's
The big pharma is acquiring Calporta Therapeutics to test whether drugs that promote lysosome function can combat neurodegenerative disorders.
By Jacob Bell • Nov. 13, 2019 -
Amgen's China ambitions become clear with BeiGene deal
Oncology-focused deal will see the biotech take a 21% stake in a Chinese partner and share commercialization of three drugs.
By Jonathan Gardner • Nov. 01, 2019 -
Roivant, Sumitomo alliance to target cystic fibrosis gene therapy
The companies unveiled the previously unnamed Spirovant as the fifth subsidiary sold to Sumitomo in last month's $3 billion deal.
By Ned Pagliarulo • Oct. 31, 2019 -
Sanofi pays $315 million to settle Lemtrada go-slow claims
The administrator of a contingent value right tied to Sanofi's buyout of Genzyme argued the pharma slowed Lemtrada's progress to dodge billions in potential payouts.
By Jonathan Gardner • Oct. 31, 2019 -
Roche takes aim at hepatitis B, striking R&D deal with Dicerna
The Swiss pharma will pay $200 million while lining up to $1.5 billion in milestones to gain access to a Phase 1 drug and Dicerna's RNAi technology.
By Andrew Dunn • Oct. 31, 2019 -
What to make of Gilead's latest NASH deal
Gilead and Glympse Bio will test whether synthetic biomarkers can show how badly damaged patients' livers are. It's a partnership that hints at the biotech's commitment to NASH.
By Jacob Bell • Oct. 28, 2019 -
ColumnPharmacquired: Eylea could be in trouble, but that doesn't make Regeneron a buyer
A rival medicine from Novartis and potential changes to Medicare aren't likely enough for Regeneron to reverse its decades-long aversion to M&A.
By Jacob Bell • Oct. 25, 2019 -
GSK hands 2 of its less profitable vaccines to Bavarian Nordic
The deal, worth about $335 million upfront, will help GSK simplify its supply chain and allow it to reinvest in higher growth areas, according to the company.
By Jacob Bell • Oct. 21, 2019 -
Sanofi investing in gene therapy as R&D focus turns toward rare disease
R&D chief John Reed told BioPharma Dive Sanofi is retrofitting a vaccine facility in France to produce the viral vectors needed to deliver gene therapies.
By Andrew Dunn • Oct. 17, 2019 -
Alexion bids for a smaller version of itself, spurring concerns about the FTC
With the Roche-Spark deal in limbo, analysts are concerned that companies with overlapping pipelines may have trouble completing acquisitions.
By Jacob Bell • Oct. 16, 2019 -
Reata buys drug rights back from AbbVie for $330M before readout
"It shows our confidence, but we'll have to see how the data plays out," the biotech's CFO told BioPharma Dive.
By Andrew Dunn • Oct. 10, 2019 -
UCB bets more on rare disease drugs with Ra Pharma acquisition
The $2.5 billion deal hands UCB another late-stage drug for generalized myasthenia gravis, a disease area dominated by Alexion Pharmaceuticals.
By Jacob Bell • Oct. 10, 2019 -
Feeling pressure in hemophilia, Novo signs gene editing deal with Bluebird
The deal may come too late, though, as the launch of Hemlibra and approach of gene therapies dampens demand for Novo's factor replacement therapies.
By Jonathan Gardner • Oct. 09, 2019 -
Akcea inks deal with Pfizer, rebounding after leadership shuffle
Two weeks after a mass C-suite departure, a $250 million payment from Pfizer shored up Akcea's finances and enlivened investors in the Ionis affiliate.
By Jonathan Gardner • Oct. 07, 2019 -
Sobi finds another fit for its dealmaking strategy
The rare disease drugmaker plans to acquire Dova Pharmaceuticals and its blood medicine Doptelet for up to $915 million.
By Jacob Bell • Sept. 30, 2019 -
Clovis shares plunge after downgrade raises questions on path forward
A Wall Street analyst was skeptical of a preclinical deal that adds R&D costs while the company fights for market share in ovarian cancer.
By Jonathan Gardner • Sept. 24, 2019 -
Alder's migraine drug attracted plenty of dealmakers. The company, not so much
A new regulatory filing affirms the theory that, in neuroscience, risk-sharing partnerships are more appealing than all-out acquisitions.
By Jacob Bell • Sept. 24, 2019 -
Lundbeck buys into migraine, acquiring Alder for $2B
The Danish pharma has blockbuster ambitions for Alder's CGRP drug, but the already competitive migraine market is poised to become more so next year.
By Andrew Dunn • Sept. 16, 2019 -
Vertex makes headway in UK reimbursement
Scotland has agreed to cover two Vertex drugs, Orkambi and Symkevi, which may bode well for resolving a dispute over the company's prices.
By Jacob Bell • Sept. 12, 2019 -
Q&A
Reata's new CFO on M&A, weathering a recession and biotech's quirks
Manmeet Soni helped execute multi-billion dollar sales as CFO of Ariad and Pharmacyclics. He's now moving from Alnylam to a small, Texas-based biotech.
By Andrew Dunn • Sept. 12, 2019 -
Drug companies pay for exclusive access to UK genetic data
Amgen, AstraZeneca, GSK and J&J will get nine months to pour over the first wave of whole genome data coming out of UK Biobank before the global research community gets a chance to look.
By Jacob Bell • Sept. 11, 2019
