GSK targets neurodegenerative diseases with latest licensing deal

The pharma giant is wagering potentially billions of dollars on technology from ABL Bio that’s designed to get drugs across the blood-brain barrier.

By Jacob Bell • April 7, 2025

M&A recap: Big pharma starts the year mostly avoiding billion-dollar deals

Just two acquisitions in the first quarter, that of Intra-Cellular Therapies and IDRx, crossed the $1 billion mark, a notable decrease from the six seen during the same period last year.

By Jacob Bell • April 4, 2025

Bluebird gets rival takeout offer from Ayrmid

The new bid surpasses an offer SK Capital and Carlyle Group made last month for the gene therapy developer, which Bluebird’s board still supports.

By Ben Fidler • March 28, 2025

Merck bets $200M on a new type of heart pill

A licensing deal with Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals puts Merck in a competitive race to develop a medicine that targets a genetic risk factor called lipoprotein(a). 

By Jonathan Gardner • March 25, 2025

Sanofi wagers $600M on a dual-targeting antibody drug for autoimmune disease

The deal with startup Dren Bio hands Sanofi a so-called myeloid cell engager that would compete with an array of programs aiming to “reset” the immune systems of people with inflammatory conditions. 

By Kristin Jensen • March 20, 2025

Taiho buys Swiss biotech and its ADC tech for $400M

The pharma will acquire Araris Biotech to gain access to three preclinical ADCs and a linking technology Araris claims is superior to existing platforms.

By Delilah Alvarado • March 17, 2025

AstraZeneca adds ‘in vivo’ cell therapy capabilities with EsoBiotech deal

The pharma is paying up to $1 billion to buy the Belgian startup, whose technology it sees as useful in treating cancer and autoimmune conditions.

By Ben Fidler • March 17, 2025

MeiraGTx spins Parkinson’s, obesity gene therapies into AI startup

The joint venture with generative AI firm Hologen hands MeiraGTx $200 million up front as well as other financial perks — a “transformative” deal, according to the company’s CEO.

By Jacob Bell • March 13, 2025

Mallinckrodt, Endo to combine in $7B deal

The merger will give the combined entity the financial flexibility to pursue drug licensing deals and broaden its therapeutic focus, executives said on a conference call.

By Kristin Jensen • March 13, 2025

Roche broadens obesity drug plans with $1.65B Zealand deal

The deal gives the Swiss pharma access to an experimental amylin-targeting treatment it will test in combination with drugs it acquired from Carmot.

By Jonathan Gardner • March 12, 2025

Viking inks CordenPharma deal to boost obesity drug supply

The biotech will commit $150 million to an alliance that hands it significant production capacity for a closely watched weight loss treatment.

By Jonathan Gardner • March 11, 2025

2seventy bio, Bluebird’s cell therapy spinout, sells to Bristol Myers for less than $300M

The deal ends 2Seventy’s short run as an independent company, during which it restructured, sold off research and lost nearly all of its market value.

By Ben Fidler • March 11, 2025

Jazz expands in oncology with $935M deal for Chimerix

Chimerix is currently awaiting an FDA decision on accelerated approval of a drug it’s developing for a type of glioma. 

By Jonathan Gardner • March 5, 2025

AbbVie gets into obesity with $350M deal for once-weekly shot

A licensing deal with Denmark’s Gubra gives the immunology giant control of an experimental therapy that could compete with drugs from Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly and Zealand.

By Jonathan Gardner • March 3, 2025

AstraZeneca deepens China presence with FibroGen deal

The $160 million acquisition of a FibroGen subsidiary expands AstraZeneca’s foothold in China while the company works through government investigations into its business practices there. 

By Kristin Jensen • Feb. 20, 2025

FTC retains stricter merger guidelines under Trump

Agency chair Andrew Ferguson sent a memo to staff on Tuesday clarifying that Biden-era guidelines will remain in place — for now.

By Rebecca Pifer • Feb. 19, 2025

Biogen buys rights to Stoke’s rare epilepsy drug

In exchange for $165 million, Biogen now has access to zorevunersen, a potential first-of-its-kind treatment for Dravet syndrome.

By Jacob Bell • Feb. 18, 2025

Novartis pays $925M to reel in a startup it helped launch

The acquisition of Anthos Therapeutics could be worth up to $3.1 billion and returns to Novartis a blood thinner it licensed to the Blackstone-backed startup six years ago.

By Ben Fidler • Feb. 11, 2025

‘The bar has risen’: China’s biotech gains push US companies to adapt

Pharma dealmaking for drugs invented in China is putting pressure on U.S. biotechs to compete harder, according to investors and executives interviewed by BioPharma Dive earlier this year.

By Ben Fidler • Jan. 16, 2025

Roche’s new deals head tries to navigate a more ‘complicated’ and ‘expensive’ biotech world

Roche's core research spans five large areas. Boris Zaïtra, who now leads corporate business development, is confident his team of dealmakers can juggle them.

By Jacob Bell • Jan. 16, 2025

At JPM, Biogen CEO tries to take down the deal temperature

While Biogen has made an opportunistic bid for partner Sage, its top executive seemed to play down the urgency for his company to go after larger deals.

By Jacob Bell • Jan. 15, 2025

Biogen’s ‘cold and calculated’ offer to buy Sage receives a mixed reaction on Wall Street

Analysts say the deal, which would give Biogen full control over the drug Zurzuvae, could be a smart financial move. Yet it's also unlikely to appease broader investor concerns.

By Jacob Bell • Jan. 13, 2025

Lilly pads cancer drug pipeline with Scorpion deal

The pharma will spend up to $2.5 billion to acquire an experimental PI3K inhibitor from Scorpion, which will spin out a new company holding its employees and other assets.

By Ben Fidler • Jan. 13, 2025

J&J to buy psychiatric drug developer Intra-Cellular for $14.6B

Intra-Cellular has had success selling Caplyta, a brain-rebalancing drug that's approved to treat schizophrenia and bipolar depression.

By Ned Pagliarulo , Jacob Bell • Updated Jan. 13, 2025

Merck moves into obesity with deal for Hansoh’s GLP-1 pill

News of Merck’s licensing of Hansoh’s preclinical medicine pressured shares in Viking and other obesity drug developers seen as likely buyout targets.

By Jonathan Gardner • Dec. 18, 2024