Sobi snaps up gout drug in $950M deal for startup Arthrosi

The deal revolves around a drug Sobi claimed could become the “therapy of choice” for people whose gout symptoms persist despite initial therapy. 

By Ben Fidler • Dec. 14, 2025

Pfizer dips into China for another try at an obesity pill

A potentially $2 billion deal with a subsidiary of Shanghai-based Fosun Pharma gives Pfizer a new chance at an oral weight loss medication, an area where its internal research has struggled.

By Kristin Jensen • Dec. 9, 2025

The ‘clever’ tool increasingly getting bigger biotech deals signed

A decades-old way to bridge buyers and sellers on price, contingent value rights have recently seen an uptick in use due to a turbulent biotech market.

By Jacob Bell • Dec. 2, 2025

Regeneron inks gene editing deal with startup Tessera

The big biotech, which has made genetic medicine a focus in recent years, is paying Tessera $150 million for rights to a potential one-and-done treatment for alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency.

By Delilah Alvarado • Dec. 1, 2025

Gilead scoops up a preclinical cancer program

The company, which invested heavily in oncology in recent years, has now put more than $400 million on the table to access a Sprint Bioscience drug targeting “TREX1.”

By Kristin Jensen • Nov. 25, 2025

Biogen strikes deal with Versant-backed biotech to expand immune portfolio

Newly launched Dayra Therapeutics has agreed to identify for Biogen "oral macrocycle candidates" that go after "high-priority immunological targets."

By Delilah Alvarado • Nov. 24, 2025

GSK, Anaptysbio sue each other over Jemperli revenue

As Anaptysbio seeks to split off a royalty business, both companies claim the other breached contracts surrounding development of the cancer immunotherapy.

By Jonathan Gardner • Nov. 21, 2025

Abbott to acquire Exact Sciences for about $21B

The purchase would give Abbott access to cancer screening tests including Cologuard and blood tests for multi-cancer early detection.

By Elise Reuter , Susan Kelly • Nov. 20, 2025

J&J adds to pharma’s M&A spree with $3B buyout of startup Halda

The deal gives J&J access to a pipeline of drugs designed to “hold and kill” tumors, led by a prostate cancer medicine that’s shown promise in early-stage testing. 

By Jonathan Gardner • Nov. 17, 2025

To Wall Street, a new bidding war puts Alkermes in a tough spot

Now in a tug of war with Lundbeck, Alkermes could either lose out on a marketed sleepiness drug or end up paying significantly more than it had hoped.

By Jacob Bell • Nov. 14, 2025

Merck stakes $9.2B on Cidara and its long-acting flu drug

The deal, one of two multibillion-dollar buyouts from Merck this year, centers around a drug that could become an alternative to vaccines for flu prevention.

By Ben Fidler • Nov. 14, 2025

Day One snaps up ADC maker Mersana in backloaded buyout deal

After multiple clinical setbacks and layoff rounds, Mersana accepted an offer in which the bulk of the payouts will only materialize if its main cancer drug hits a variety of milestones.

By Jonathan Gardner • Nov. 13, 2025

Pfizer wins bidding war for Metsera with $10B offer

The new proposal for the coveted obesity drug developer is more than double the size of Pfizer’s original bid and ends a squabble with Novo Nordisk that had resulted in lawsuits.

By Ben Fidler • Nov. 8, 2025

FTC 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

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

Metsera 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

Roche 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

Pfizer 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

Novo 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

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

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

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

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

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

Takeda 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