Deals

CSL closes deal for UniQure gene therapy in hopeful sign for M&A

Completion of the buyout eases concerns the arrangement might be held up by the FTC, which has signaled it will step up scrutiny of life sciences deals.  

By Kristin Jensen • May 06, 2021

Roivant valued at $7B in blank-check merger, bucking SPAC slowdown

Vivek Ramaswamy's unusual biotech holding company will go public through a deal with Montes Archimedes Acquisition Corp. that nets Roivant $611 million.

By Ben Fidler • May 03, 2021

Explore the Trendline➔

Trendline

The BioPharma Dive Outlook on 2021

M&A appears to be ticking higher after a slow 2020, while a series of setbacks has renewed questions around gene therapy. Several key clinical trial readouts also loom. Here's what to watch in biotech and pharma this year.

By BioPharma Dive staff

Vertex bets another $900M on CRISPR treatment for blood diseases

Vertex and CRISPR Therapeutics are tweaking their partnership so that the larger biotech will cover 60% of the costs — and receive 60% of the future profits — related to a gene editing therapy for sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia.

By Jacob Bell • April 20, 2021

Relay buys AI startup to aid unorthodox drug discovery quest

The $85 million acquisition is an unusual and early step for a company like Relay, which went public last July and only just began clinical testing of its lead drugs last year. 

By Ned Pagliarulo • April 16, 2021

US clears AstraZeneca buyout of Alexion amid closer scrutiny of biopharma M&A

FTC authorization of the $39 billion deal — the sector's largest in 2020 — may ease concerns over the agency's plans to more intently inspect pharma deals. 

By Jonathan Gardner • April 16, 2021

Thermo Fisher to buy research contractor PPD in $17B deal

The deal values PPD at $47.50 a share, or about 24% over the company's closing price on April 13 — the day before The Wall Street Journal reported word of the planned acquisition.

By Kristin Jensen • April 15, 2021

Cancer biotech Tango to go public through $350M SPAC deal

Gilead, which expanded its research collaboration with Tango last year, will take part in a related private investment along with more than a dozen high-profile backers.

By Kristin Jensen • April 14, 2021

Sanofi buys an mRNA startup in another bet on 'off-the-shelf' cell therapy

Tidal Therapeutics is the second biotech developing more convenient cell therapies that the French pharma has recently acquired as part of a broader expansion in oncology.

By Ben Fidler • April 09, 2021

Amgen acquires a small biotech and its inflammatory disease research

The deal for Rodeo Therapeutics follows closely on the heels of the large biotech's buyout of cancer drug developer Five Prime.

By Kristin Jensen • March 31, 2021

FTC challenges Illumina's $7B Grail buyout amid new scrutiny of life science deals

The commission said the acquisition will "harm competition in the U.S. market" for early cancer detection tests.

By Nick Paul Taylor • March 31, 2021

Global Blood takes on more sickle cell drugs through Sanofi deal

Global Blood says the two acquired programs could complement Oxbryta, its marketed sickle cell drug that gained approval in late 2019.

By Jacob Bell • March 16, 2021

FTC joins overseas antitrust regulators in reexamination of pharma M&A

Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, the commission's acting chair, indicated future reviews could look beyond measures of company size and market share.

By Jonathan Gardner • March 16, 2021

Gilead, Merck combine forces in HIV

The rivals are now working together on oral and injectable treatments that combine their closely watched experimental drugs lenacapavir and islatravir.

By Jacob Bell • March 15, 2021

Taking a page from Celgene, Takeda builds and buys a cancer biotech

An agreement to acquire Maverick Therapeutics for up to $525 million has roots in a plan hatched by Takeda to emulate elements of Celgene's dealmaking strategy.

By Ben Fidler • March 09, 2021

Biotech's deal refusals led to pricey buyout by Merck

Pandion rejected multiple offers by Merck to partner on or acquire the small biotech's research before accepting a $1.85 billion acquisition bid last month.

By Ned Pagliarulo • March 05, 2021

Amgen, with rare buyout, pays $1.9B for cancer biotech Five Prime

The acquisition marks a dramatic turnaround for Five Prime, which has in recent years struggled through setbacks, executive departures and layoffs.

By Ned Pagliarulo • March 04, 2021

Doudna-founded biotech Caribou raises fresh funds to fuel gene editing pipeline

The CRISPR biotech raised $115 million in a Series C financing aimed at advancing its engineered cell therapy research. 

By Kristin Jensen • March 03, 2021

Takeda takes full control of drug for rare epilepsies

A new agreement with Ovid Therapeutics has Takeda paying almost $200 million to secure global rights to soticlestat, an experimental treatment for certain brain diseases.

By Jacob Bell • March 03, 2021

Merck to buy autoimmune drugmaker for $2B

The deal, which values Pandion Therapeutics at a more than 100% premium, would hand Merck a drug in early-stage testing for ulcerative colitis and lupus.

By Jacob Bell , Ben Fidler • Feb. 25, 2021

Beam, capitalizing on stock surge, buys gene therapy tools developer for $120M

Guide Therapeutics, the company Beam acquired, is working on ways to more efficiently deliver gene editing therapies into the body.

By Ned Pagliarulo • Feb. 23, 2021

Lilly wagers almost $1B on Rigel's drugs for immune and nervous systems

For $125 million up front, Lilly secures rights to a drug about to enter mid-stage testing for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, as well as preclinical assets targeting the central nervous system.

By Jacob Bell • Feb. 18, 2021

GSK expands CureVac vaccine partnership, changing course after setbacks

The U.K. drugmaker will help CureVac make 100 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine and join in developing a multivalent shot for 2022.

By Jonathan Gardner • Feb. 03, 2021

Jazz Pharma to buy GW Pharma, maker of CBD-based epilepsy drug, for $7.2B

The deal gives Jazz, best known for its sleep disorder drugs, access to Epidiolex, the first prescription cannabidiol medicine approved by the FDA.

By Ned Pagliarulo • Feb. 03, 2021

Shifting strategy, Coherus buys rights to experimental cancer drug

The biosimilar maker will develop an immunotherapy rival to Merck's Keytruda via a deal with China's Junshi Biosciences.

By Jonathan Gardner • Feb. 01, 2021

Horizon acquires Viela Bio for $3B in a windfall for AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca's decision to spin out Viela Bio in 2018 paid off with a drug approval, an initial public offering, and now an acquisition that will net the pharma close to $800 million. 

By Jacob Bell , Ben Fidler • Feb. 01, 2021