Deals: Page 18
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Adamas, Flexion sell for $825M combined as biotech's dealmaking pace picks up
After lagging for months, M&A has accelerated over the past five weeks. The latest evidence comes from two deals based largely on future drug sales.
By Jonathan Gardner • Oct. 11, 2021 -
Otsuka partners with Sunovion, Sumitomo in neurology drug pact
Sunovion will receive $270 million from Otsuka, and as much as $620 million more, in exchange for splitting rights to four experimental psychiatric drugs.
By Kristin Jensen • Sept. 30, 2021 -
Acceleron provides biggest biopharma deal this year, with $11.5B sale to Merck
The acquisition is notable for Merck, which is under pressure to diversify its business beyond the cancer drug Keytruda and has typically favored smaller buyouts of earlier-stage companies.
By Jacob Bell • Updated Sept. 30, 2021 -
Amicus, looking for a boost, sells its gene therapy work to a SPAC
The value of the biotech's growing gene therapy portfolio has been "unrecognized" by investors, said CEO John Crowley, leading to a sudden shift for an initiative that began just three years ago.
By Ben Fidler • Sept. 29, 2021 -
AstraZeneca to buy rare disease drugmaker Caelum in small deal
The British pharma inherited an option to acquire Caelum Biosciences when it bought Alexion last year. Caelum could receive as much as $500 million as a result of the planned buyout.
By Kristin Jensen • Sept. 29, 2021 -
AbbVie bets big on a gene therapy for eye diseases
The company has agreed to pay $370 million, and possibly north of $1 billion more, to gain access to a Regenxbio treatment targeting wet AMD and other eye conditions.
By Jacob Bell • Sept. 13, 2021 -
Sanofi to buy Kadmon for $1.9B, extending deal streak
The acquisition took some analysts by surprise as Sanofi has recently targeted specialty drugs, not general medicines like Kadmon's transplant treatment.
By Ben Fidler • Sept. 8, 2021 -
Roche bets big on off-the-shelf cancer cell therapy with Adaptimmune deal
Long a bystander in the race to develop so-called allogeneic treatments, the cancer drugmaking giant has joined the fray with a wide-ranging alliance that could be worth up to $3 billion.
By Jonathan Gardner • Sept. 7, 2021 -
Lilly puts more money into protein degradation
The pharma has struck its second research pact focused on drugs that break down harmful proteins in as many years, this time with California biotech Lycia Therapeutics.
By Jacob Bell • Aug. 25, 2021 -
Pfizer stocks cancer drug pipeline with $2.3B deal for Trillium
The acquisition reflects growing industry interest in the cancer-linked protein targeted by Trillium's drugs, most notably shown by Gilead's acquisition of Forty Seven last year.
By Ned Pagliarulo • Aug. 23, 2021 -
Illumina closes Grail takeover despite pending FTC trial
The testing giant's decision to move ahead without sign-off from U.S. regulators and an EU investigation ongoing is a "maverick move," said Evercore analysts, as there's a chance Illumina may have to unwind the takeover.
By Nick Paul Taylor • Aug. 19, 2021 -
Deep Dive
Biotech’s M&A outlook is uncertain. Track the deals that are happening here.
CorMedix will pay $300 million upfront to acquire antibiotic drug developer Melinta Therapeutics from affiliates of Deerfield Management.
By Ned Pagliarulo, Jacob Bell, Julia Himmel • Updated Aug. 7, 2025 -
How Bayer lured a biotech away from an IPO and into a buyout
Vividion Therapeutics was headed toward an IPO earlier this year, but the company's co-founder said Bayer’s $1.5 billion offer ended up being a more attractive option.
By Shoshana Dubnow • Aug. 5, 2021 -
Sanofi bets $3.2B on mRNA with deal to buy Translate Bio
The acquisition is a sign of how more and more large pharmaceutical companies view messenger RNA as an essential drugmaking technology.
By Ned Pagliarulo • Aug. 3, 2021 -
Bluebird preps for split by selling manufacturing plant to well-funded startup
The startup manufacturing specialist National Resilience, which raised $800 million when it launched last year, will pay Bluebird $110 million for the North Carolina facility, bringing its North American network up to 10.
By Kristin Jensen • July 29, 2021 -
Amgen pays $900M for Teneobio and bets bigger on next-gen antibody drugs
The acquisition is the third Amgen has made since March and broadens its ability to develop bispecific antibodies, a drug class of intense interest to big biotech.
By Ben Fidler • July 28, 2021 -
An AstraZeneca spinout scores a buyout option from Arena
The potential acquisition marks a fast turnaround for Aristea, one of several biotechs formed from programs AstraZeneca decided not to advance internally.
By Jonathan Gardner • July 27, 2021 -
Regeneron, AstraZeneca team up on targeted drugs for obesity
After screening 650,000 people, Regeneron unearthed a mutation associated with lower weight. AstraZeneca aims to help the biotech make a drug based on its findings.
By Jonathan Gardner • July 27, 2021 -
AstraZeneca deal for Alexion to close soon as UK regulator clears acquisition
The go-ahead from British regulators was the last hurdle standing in the way of the two companies wrapping up their $39 billion deal announced last year.
By Kristin Jensen • July 14, 2021 -
Lilly wagers up to $1B on a biotech's plan for a new type of insulin
Rival Novo Nordisk has jumped ahead in developing an injectable drug that responds to changes in blood sugar. An acquisition of Protomer Therapeutics could help Lilly close the gap.
By Jonathan Gardner • July 14, 2021 -
Biogen chases rivals with another bet on emerging class of multiple sclerosis drugs
A deal with Innocare gives Biogen a second therapy for MS that targets a protein called BTK, an approach several other competing drugmakers are pursuing, too.
By Ben Fidler • Updated July 14, 2021 -
Novo, in rare deal, buys rights to Prothena amyloidosis treatment
The Danish pharma will pay $100 million in the near term and as much as $1.2 billion overall for an antibody Prothena is developing for ATTR amyloidosis.
By Ned Pagliarulo • July 12, 2021 -
GSK returns to brain drugs with major biotech deal
The pharmaceutical giant best known for its work in cancer, HIV and respiratory illnesses is now paying at least $700 million to get its hands on two experimental drugs from Alector.
By Jacob Bell • July 2, 2021 -
Nestlé joins Seres in deal to market microbiome drug
The health science unit at Nestlé may pay more than $500 million to secure rights in the U.S. and Canada for SER-109, a spore-filled capsule meant for patients with recurrent C. diff infections.
By Kristin Jensen • July 1, 2021 -
Deals surge, returns slip: takeaways from a record half for biotech IPOs
Biotech initial public offerings could break records set just last year. But their average size and performance are declining, which some say might reflect an overdue correction.
By Ben Fidler • June 30, 2021