Biotech Scribe strikes gene editing deal with Lilly subsidiary

The California-based company now has partnerships in place with Sanofi, Biogen and Lilly’s Prevail.

By Gwendolyn Wu • May 16, 2023

FTC sues to block Amgen’s $27.8B deal for Horizon

The regulator’s challenge will test a more expansive view of how pharmaceutical mergers could harm consumers. Amgen remains confident it can complete the deal, however.

By Jonathan Gardner • May 16, 2023

Gilead expands Arcus partnership, with eye to inflammatory disease

The new deal is worth up to $1 billion, and will see the two collaborators work together on up to four inflammatory disease drug targets.

By Jonathan Gardner • May 15, 2023

A struggling biotech wraps its main assets into a new drug company

Cyclerion Therapeutics has struck an agreement to sell two of its experimental drugs, known as sGC stimulators, to a newly formed company in exchange for cash and equity.

By Jacob Bell • May 12, 2023

Pharma contractor Syneos to be taken private in $7.1B deal

The offer from a group of private equity firms comes after a series of ups and downs for Syneos, which was formed through the 2017 merger of contract research firms InVentiv Health and INC Research.

By Kristin Jensen • May 10, 2023

FibroGen grabs an option to buy cancer drug startup Fortis

The deal, which gives FibroGen four years to acquire Fortis at a pre-negotiated price, allows the startup to earn returns for its investors without relying on an IPO in a tough market. 

By Gwendolyn Wu • May 9, 2023

Gilead acquires San Diego startup for early-stage cancer, immune drugs

The buyout of privately held XinThera continues a string of recent acquisitions of smaller biotechs by Gilead and hands it a group of drug prospects that could begin clinical testing later this year.

By Ned Pagliarulo • May 9, 2023

Roche pays China-based biotech $70M for a new HER2 drug

The drug, currently in Phase 1, is an oral medicine designed to cross the blood-brain barrier and better treat HER2 tumors that have spread to the brain.

By Jonathan Gardner • May 9, 2023

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