Recursion to acquire two Canadian drug discovery startups

The company agreed to buy Cyclica and Valence after winnowing down a list of more than 100 potential takeover targets, its CEO told BioPharma Dive. 

By Gwendolyn Wu • May 8, 2023

J&J, building on CAR-T success, strikes another cell therapy deal

Fresh off its success with the multiple myeloma treatment Carvykti, J&J is paying Cellular Biomedicine Group $245 million upfront for rights to two experimental cell therapies for blood cancer. 

By Delilah Alvarado • May 2, 2023

Astellas to acquire eye drug developer Iveric Bio for $5.9B

Though Iveric previously rebranded as a gene therapy company, Astellas is most interested in its experimental geographic atrophy drug that’s now under regulatory review.

By Ben Fidler • May 1, 2023

Sanofi strikes a $150M deal for Maze’s Pompe disease drug

The cash influx extends Maze’s financial runway into 2025, giving the South San Francisco company time to advance other drug candidates into testing.

By Gwendolyn Wu • May 1, 2023

Quest to buy liquid biopsy developer Haystack in $450M deal

Co-founded by researcher Bert Vogelstein in 2021, Haystack raised $56 million in venture financing last November for development of its cancer blood tests.

By Susan Kelly • April 27, 2023

Biogen’s new strategy brings more pipeline cuts, but leaves deal options open

The company has scrapped two experimental medicines, ended research into eye diseases and “refocused” its gene therapy investment. Yet, its CEO says he’s not opposed to adding new programs via acquisitions.

By Jacob Bell • April 25, 2023

GSK to buy Bellus Health and its chronic cough drug for $2B

The acquisition gives GSK a competitor to a similar drug being developed by Merck for the condition, which the companies estimate affects millions of people in the U.S.

By Ned Pagliarulo • April 18, 2023

Merck’s latest deal turns up the spotlight on immune system drugmakers

The buyout of Prometheus highlights pharmaceutical companies’ intense interest in medicines targeting inflammatory diseases, according to analysts.

By Jacob Bell • April 17, 2023

Merck to buy inflammatory disease drugmaker Prometheus for $10.8B

The deal is the sector's second-largest this year and marks a fast rise for Prometheus, which is the top performing biotech among the 131 to go public since 2021.

By Ben Fidler • April 16, 2023

Biogen, aiming for a better Alzheimer’s therapy, licenses a Denali program

The program is part of Denali’s “transport vehicle” platform, which uses drugmaking technology to shepherd large therapeutic molecules like antibodies across the so-called blood-brain barrier.

By Jacob Bell • April 13, 2023

Novo’s latest deal targets cell therapy for diabetes, obesity

For an upfront payment of $75 million, Novo gets an exclusive license to use Aspect Biosystems’ “bioprinting” technology to develop as many as four treatments for the diseases.

By Jacob Bell • April 12, 2023

Icahn pushes for spinoff of Illumina’s Grail division

The billionaire financier, who is waging a proxy fight for seats on Illumina’s board, is arguing that the liquid biopsy developer should become a separate, publicly traded company.

By Susan Kelly • April 11, 2023

GSK outlines deal to send cell therapies back to Adaptimmune

The pharma, which recently retreated from cell therapy research, will pay Adaptimmune about $37 million as part of an agreement to return rights to two cancer treatments.

By Ben Fidler • April 11, 2023

Canaan reloads with $850M in fresh funds for startup investing

As with past funds, Canaan anticipates it will allocate about 65% of its capital for technology investments, with the rest going into healthcare and biotech.

By Kristin Jensen • April 6, 2023

Ginkgo grows its gene therapy offerings with StrideBio deal

The deal hands Ginkgo technology for discovering and engineering capsids — the outer shell that protects the helpful genetic material in gene therapies.

By Jacob Bell • April 5, 2023

Biogen taps a deals expert in latest C-suite appointment

Hiring Adam Keeney, a Sanofi veteran, to lead corporate development could be seen as timely, given that dealmaking has come into focus at Biogen since the recent appointment of Chris Viehbacher as CEO.

By Jacob Bell • April 4, 2023

Why won’t Illumina sell Grail?

While financier Carl Icahn and regulators want the DNA-sequencing company to divest liquid biopsy company Grail, Illumina’s board isn’t budging yet. Analysts say they may be waiting for the best moment.

By Susan Kelly • April 4, 2023

Illumina ordered to divest Grail by FTC on anticompetition concerns

The San Diego-based DNA-sequencing company, which also faces a challenge from European antitrust regulators, said it will appeal the FTC’s order.

By Susan Kelly • April 3, 2023

GSK pays $90M to gain access to Scynexis antifungal

The licensing deal for the FDA-approved medicine, Brexafemme, includes milestone payments that could add up to $503 million.

By Kristin Jensen • March 30, 2023

Novartis taps Bicycle to develop radiopharmaceutical drugs for cancer

The pharma aims to use Bicycle's drugmaking technology to explore new ways of making the targeted radiation treatments.

By Delilah Alvarado • March 28, 2023

Vertex pays CRISPR to use its gene editing tech for diabetes drugs

Vertex will license CRISPR technology to develop insulin-producing islet cells that are more resistant to immune rejection, adding to other efforts directed at Type 1 diabetes.

By Christopher Newman • March 27, 2023

Karuna’s schizophrenia drug success draws a royalty buyer

PureTech Health will sell some of its royalty interest in Karuna’s drug, known as KarXT, after its second successful late-phase trial this week.

By Christopher Newman • March 24, 2023

Illumina, facing Icahn challenge, ‘moving quickly’ on resolution for Grail

The DNA-sequencing company said the activist investor hasn’t offered any better solutions for satisfying regulators’ concerns about the acquisition.

By Susan Kelly • March 20, 2023

Jounce gets rival takeover bid from company controlled by shareholder

Tang Capital’s Concentra Biosciences is offering Jounce investors a competing bid to the biotech’s planned reverse merger with Redx Pharma.

By Kristin Jensen • March 15, 2023

In Pfizer-Seagen review, FTC has chance to set new pharma precedent

The regulator’s review of the planned $43 billion deal could reveal how it plans to apply a new philosophy toward drugmaker mergers.

By Jonathan Gardner • March 14, 2023