Deals
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Obesity drugsFTC signals scrutiny of Novo’s bid for Metsera
Without taking a firm position, the antitrust agency said Novo’s two-step deal structure may illegally sidestep requirements for a premerger review.
By Jonathan Gardner • Nov. 5, 2025 -
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Blackstone pays Merck $700M to buy into ADC drug royalties
The deal hands Blackstone a piece of the potential future sales of an antibody-drug conjugate that could soon challenge marketed medicines from AstraZeneca and Gilead.
By Delilah Alvarado • Nov. 4, 2025 -
Courtesy of Novo Nordisk
Obesity drugsMetsera again chooses Novo as bidding war with Pfizer intensifies
The obesity drug developer has declared a new proposal from Novo “superior” to Pfizer’s original bid as well as an updated offer revealed Tuesday.
By Jonathan Gardner • Nov. 4, 2025 -
Permission granted by Manifold Bio
Brain drug revivalRoche taps an AI specialist to craft new brain drugs
For $55 million, Roche gains access to Manifold Bio’s drug discovery technology, which will be used to develop new “shuttles” that can get medicines across the blood-brain barrier.
By Jacob Bell • Nov. 3, 2025 -
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Obesity drugsPfizer sues Metsera, Novo in effort to enforce buyout deal
The lawsuit escalates an unusual, high-profile battle between two large pharmaceutical companies over ownership of a coveted developer of obesity drugs.
By Ben Fidler • Updated Nov. 3, 2025 -
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Obesity drugsNovo tops Pfizer with $6.5B bid for Metsera
The offer sparked a bidding war between the two large pharmas over the obesity drug specialist, with Pfizer alleging Novo’s offer is “illusory” and “structured in a way to circumvent antitrust laws.”
By Jonathan Gardner • Updated Oct. 30, 2025 -
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Novartis’ $12B Avidity deal shows a willingness to take big swings in neuroscience
A 46% premium paid for RNA candidates reflects what the pharma giant has sought to do for the last few years: aim at technology that fits into its own expertise.
By Michael Gibney • Oct. 28, 2025 -
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Novartis to acquire Avidity in $12B bet on RNA drugs for neuromuscular disease
The deal, which Novartis expects can “unlock multibillion-dollar opportunities” in the years ahead, hands the company a group of medicines for multiple forms of muscular dystrophy.
By Ben Fidler • Oct. 26, 2025 -
Jacob Bell/BioPharma Dive
Biogen licenses a possible immune drug from OrbiMed-backed biotech
The preclinical drug from Vanqua Bio is designed to inhibit “C5aR1,” a part of the immune system that regulates inflammation.
By Jacob Bell • Oct. 24, 2025 -
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Adverum, hammered by gene therapy downturn, sells to Lilly in unusual deal
Lilly’s upfront offer for Adverum, the developer of a gene therapy for age-related macular degeneration, is less than the company’s previous closing share price.
By Jacob Bell • Oct. 24, 2025 -
Permission granted by Karissa Waddick
Alkermes expands sleep portfolio with acquisition worth up to $2.1B
Analysts called the proposed purchase of Avadel Pharmaceuticals a “clear” strategic fit for Alkermes, handing it an already marketed product for excessive daytime sleepiness.
By Jacob Bell • Oct. 22, 2025 -
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China competitionTakeda stakes more than $11B on cancer drugs from China
The Japanese pharma is licensing up to three next-generation cancer drugs from Innovent Biologics in a deal it believes to be “transformative” for its oncology portfolio.
By Ben Fidler • Oct. 22, 2025 -
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News roundupIambic partners with Jazz; Merck breaks ground on $3B plant
The biotechs will assess a combination of two drugs against HER2-positive breast cancer. Elsewhere, Merck unveiled the latest piece of its more than $70 billion domestic manufacturing investment.
By BioPharma Dive staff • Oct. 21, 2025 -
Courtesy of Novo Nordisk
Novo wagers up to $2.1B on Omeros’ rare disease drug
The deal gives Novo rights to a drug it sees as having "multiple advantages" over other treatments for so-called complement-mediated diseases.
By Delilah Alvarado • Oct. 15, 2025 -
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Obesity drugsKailera nets $600M more to advance Zepbound-like obesity drug
Among the largest private biotech funding rounds this year, the financing will support global trials of an obesity shot that just succeeded in late-stage testing in China.
By Jonathan Gardner • Oct. 14, 2025 -
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BioCryst goes ‘all in’ on rare swelling disease with Astria deal
A deal valuing the Boston biotech’s stock at $700 million hands BioCryst a long-acting injectable for hereditary angioedema that complements its daily pill.
By Delilah Alvarado • Oct. 14, 2025 -
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Immune resetBristol’s $1.5B Orbital buyout extends ‘in vivo’ cell therapy deal streak
The acquisition of the well-funded startup is the fourth this year involving companies with technologies that can genetically modify immune cells inside the body.
By Jonathan Gardner • Oct. 10, 2025 -
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Novo joins MASH dealmaking surge with $4.7B Akero buyout
The deal is the third acquisition since May involving a drug that could reverse liver scarring in people with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis.
By Jonathan Gardner • Oct. 9, 2025 -
Bhagavatheeshwaran, Govind. (2016). "MRI Scan" [Image]. Retrieved from Flickr.
China competitionZenas looks to China to stock pipeline with 3 more immune drugs
A potentially $2 billion deal with InnoCare Pharma hands Zenas rights to a BTK inhibitor in late-stage testing for multiple sclerosis and two other immune medicines in earlier development.
By Kristin Jensen • Oct. 8, 2025 -
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Obesity drugsMetsera strengthens case for Pfizer buyout with latest study data
In a Phase 2 trial, a drug at the center of the $4.9 billion deal matched the type of weight loss trajectory seen in testing of Eli Lilly’s Zepbound.
By Jonathan Gardner • Sept. 30, 2025 -
Courtesy of Genmab A/S
Genmab to acquire closely watched cancer drug in $8B Merus buyout
The deal hands Genmab a drug that showed the potential in earlier testing to extend survival in head and neck cancer when added to Merck’s widely used immunotherapy Keytruda.
By Delilah Alvarado • Sept. 29, 2025 -
Jacob Bell/BioPharma Dive
Obesity drugsPfizer buys back into obesity drug chase with $4.9B Metsera deal
The deal ends a short run as a publicly traded company for Metsera, which is being sold for more than double its IPO price amid enthusiasm for its weight loss medicines.
By Jonathan Gardner • Sept. 22, 2025 -
Jacob Bell/BioPharma Dive
Biogen to buy startup Alcyone, eyeing easier delivery of RNA drugs
The purchase gives Biogen full access to an implantable device that could help patients avoid the repeat lumbar punctures required for drugs like Spinraza.
By Kristin Jensen • Sept. 18, 2025 -
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Roche dives into MASH with $2.4B deal for 89bio
Roche’s CEO claimed 89bio’s drug, which is in late-stage testing, has the potential to show “best-in-disease efficacy” for many people with the condition.
By Ben Fidler • Sept. 18, 2025 -
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CSL nabs option to acquire a startup and its blood-clotting drug
A deal with Dutch startup VarmX gives CSL an option to buy a Phase 3-ready drug that could reverse the effects of popular anticoagulants like Eliquis, which carry the risk of internal bleeding.
By Kristin Jensen • Sept. 16, 2025
