Deals
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News roundup
BridgeBio gets funding for drug launch; United buys into cell therapy
Elsewhere, Otsuka’s kidney drug hit the goal of a confirmatory trial and Vertex’s CRISPR sickle cell drug secured expanded approval.
By Delilah Alvarado • July 1, 2026 -
Ipsen to buy Swiss biotech Memo Therapeutics in potential $800M deal
The purchase hands Ipsen an experimental medicine in late-stage testing for a virus that often affects kidney transplant patients.
By Kristin Jensen • July 1, 2026 -
Theravance, after clinical setbacks, agrees to $929M buyout
The acquisition by royalty management company Zymeworks follows a "strategic review" triggered by the failure of a drug for a type of low blood pressure.
By Jonathan Gardner • June 29, 2026 -
Antares gets $105M from Novartis for new cancer drugs
Adam Friedman, CEO of the Scorpion Therapeutics spinout, said the deal helps both companies accelerate research "faster than either of us could alone."
By Gwendolyn Wu • June 25, 2026 -
AbbVie to acquire Apogee, staking nearly $11B on long-acting autoimmune drugs
AbbVie’s largest deal in more than half a decade adds a group of immune disease medications — among them a Dupixent competitor — the company believes to have “mega-blockbuster” sales potential.
By Ben Fidler • June 22, 2026 -
Startup launches
cAMPfield lands $180M to build gut disease drug
The biotech is advancing an anti-inflammatory drug that originated with vTv for inflammatory bowel diseases, leaning on a better side effect profile.
By Jonathan Gardner • June 18, 2026 -
Biogen adds more immune drugs in $1B buyout of secretive startup RayThera
The companies didn’t specify the drugs Biogen is acquiring in the deal, though patents RayThera secured provide important clues.
By Kristin Jensen • June 18, 2026 -
Jazz zeroes in on next-gen T cell engagers with AbCellera deal
The potentially $4 billion collaboration is the latest example of drugmakers working to broaden the use of T cell engagers, which, so far, have had limited success outside of certain blood cancers.
By Kristin Jensen • June 17, 2026 -
Pain drugs
Lilly buys non-opioid pain drugmaker 4E
It’s the latest in a string of deals for Lilly, which has sunk more than $18 billion into acquisitions over the past few years.
By Gwendolyn Wu • June 16, 2026 -
Summit pulls $500M share sale a day after announcing it
The developer of a leading PD-1/VEGF cancer drug cited “market conditions” for the cancellation. Its shares have struggled to break out following data milestones.
By Jonathan Gardner • June 11, 2026 -
GSK boosts cancer pipeline with $11B Nuvalent buyout
The British drugmaker's third acquisition this year gives it two experimental lung cancer drugs under FDA review that it hopes will support a franchise.
By Jonathan Gardner • June 9, 2026 -
Roche stakes $700M on Nurix’s protein-degrading drug
Potentially worth up to $2.3 billion, the collaboration is a bet that drugs able to eliminate the “BTK” enzyme will prove superior to existing medicines that block its activity.
By Ben Fidler • June 8, 2026 -
Incyte to buy blood disorder drug in possibly $2B deal
Acquiring Vega Therapeutics, an offshoot of "hub-and-spoke" biotech Star Therapeutics, would give Incyte a medicine that’s in late-stage testing and designed to control bleeding.
By Jacob Bell • June 8, 2026 -
Alnylam, Inceptive ink AI deal potentially worth $2B
The RNA-focused drugmaker says Inceptive's tools will help prioritize the best development options as well as speed up the research process.
By Kristin Jensen • June 4, 2026 -
Emerging biotech
Lilly, Ascidian link up in RNA exon editing pact
Worth as much as $1.9 billion, the deal directs Ascidian to help Lilly find potential drugs for genetically driven kidney diseases.
By Gwendolyn Wu • June 3, 2026 -
Servier buys into muscular dystrophy with potentially $2.7B deal
The French drugmaker has agreed to acquire an experimental tablet from Edgewise Therapeutics that some bullish analysts say could eventually hit peak sales of over $2 billion.
By Jacob Bell • June 1, 2026 -
China competition
Pfizer, Innovent strike $10B cancer drug deal
Involving up to 12 antibody drugs, the alliance is the latest broad partnership between Chinese biotech and a multinational pharmaceutical company.
By Ben Fidler • May 29, 2026 -
Vaccines
Lilly dives into vaccine research with 3 biotech buyouts
Worth close to $4 billion combined, the acquisitions of Curevo, LimmaTech and Vaccine Co. signal plans by Lilly to build an infectious disease portfolio.
By Delilah Alvarado • May 26, 2026 -
Lilly snaps up Engage to advance non-viral genetic medicines
The acquisition is Lilly’s latest push into genetic medicine, giving it a technology designed to overcome some of the field’s longstanding limitations.
By Delilah Alvarado • May 20, 2026 -
A migraine drugmaker heads to the public markets through reverse merger
Mentari Therapeutics, a spinout from the prolific hub-and-spoke biotech Paragon, is developing two medications it hopes can treat migraines that aren’t well controlled by existing drugs.
By Jacob Bell • May 19, 2026 -
Arvinas, Pfizer find new partner for ‘Protac’ breast cancer drug
A deal with Rigel Pharmaceuticals ends months of uncertainty about the future of Veppanu, a first-of-its-kind, newly approved medicine with a murky financial outlook.
By Delilah Alvarado • May 12, 2026 -
China competition
Bristol Myers, Hengrui join forces in drugmaking alliance worth up to $15.2 billion
The wide-ranging pact involves as many as 13 drugs and marks the latest example of the growing relationship between Chinese pharmaceutical firms and their U.S. and Europe-based counterparts.
By Ben Fidler • May 12, 2026 -
China competition
GSK cuts deal with Sino to broaden reach of hepatitis B drug
The marketing deal is the latest in a series of recent pacts between GSK and China-based drug companies, and could speed access to a therapy called bepirovirsen that’s important to its future.
By Delilah Alvarado • May 11, 2026 -
Lilly, Gilead lead pharma’s M&A boom
Deal volume in 2026 is substantially outpacing last year, and activity is being driven by interest in cancer and autoimmune disease drugs.
By Kelly Bilodeau • May 8, 2026 -
Angelini to buy Catalyst in $4B play for rare neuro drugs
The acquisition hands the Italian pharma a group of medicines approved to treat various CNS disorders and gives it wider market access in the U.S.
By Gwendolyn Wu • May 7, 2026