Deals: Page 2

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

Biotech M&A, while far from recent heights, is picking back up. Here are the latest deals.

Acquisitions haven't come close to the record levels seen just a couple years ago. But dealmaking experts foresee a turnaround in 2022, given that big-name buyers like Pfizer and Novartis are flush with cash.

By Jacob Bell, Julia Himmel • Updated Dec. 22, 2021

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

With Alzheimer's drugs in focus, Bristol Myers rejoins the hunt

The pharmaceutical giant is spending $80 million for an exclusive license to an experimental drug developed by Prothena.

By Jacob Bell • June 24, 2021

GSK outlines ambitious 10-year plan, but hits investors' near-term outlook

Under pressure from activist investors, the British drugmaker set lofty sales targets for a "new GSK" after a planned exit from consumer health. But shareholders will first face a dividend cut.

By Jonathan Gardner • June 23, 2021