Pfizer pulls the plug on pain deal with Pain Therapeutics

Investors felt the pain when Pfizer announced it won't be moving forward with an agreement to develop and commercialize an extended-release formulation of oxycodone.

By Nicole Gray • Oct. 28, 2014

Novartis sells off flu vaccines business to CSL for $275 million

This is it for Novartis and vaccines: After selling off most of its vaccines to GSK in April for $7.1 billion, the company has now sold the rest of its portfolio to Australia-based CSL for $275 million.

By Nicole Gray • Oct. 28, 2014

Roche to spend $3.2B on massive R&D cluster in Basel

The 10-year goal is to eventually move all Basel-based employees to this new mega-site.

By Nicole Gray • Oct. 28, 2014

Valeant poised to raise Allergan bid

The offer will provide "shareholder value" of at least $200/share, Valeant's CEO says in a letter riddled with tough talk.

By Randy Lilleston • Oct. 27, 2014

Actavis to cut more jobs, this time in New York

There are lay-offs scheduled for three facilities in New York as Actavis continued to integrate the recently-acquired Forest Labs into its business.

By Nicole Gray • Oct. 24, 2014

The $5.3B Mylan-Abbott inversion deal won't go the way of AbbVie-Shire

Mylan still plans to buy a portion of Abbott's overseas generics portfolio and relocate to the Netherlands. But some tweaks have been made to the deal—and it's unclear exactly why.

By Sy Mukherjee • Oct. 22, 2014

Actelion chief says it's time for pharma to ditch tax-inversion mergers

Actelion CEO Jean-Paul Clozel praises U.S. efforts to curb tax-inversions and says pharma companies should drop the gimmicks and pursue real value when cutting deals. 

By Sy Mukherjee • Oct. 21, 2014

AbbVie-Shire deal effectively dead in the water

The Obama administration's renewed push to curb tax-inversion mergers claims its first victim.

By Sy Mukherjee • Oct. 16, 2014

Report: 6 US Ranbaxy execs head for the exits before Sun Pharma merger

“The core team of Ranbaxy in the U.S., which was running the show so far, resigned in one go last week," according to a company source.

By Sy Mukherjee • Oct. 13, 2014

Endo to buy Auxilium at a premium for $2.6 billion

Endo’s upcoming purchase of Auxilium will strengthen its already formidable men’s health franchise—and has stoked investor’s enthusiasm for Auxilum shares, which were up 10% on the news.  

By Nicole Gray • Oct. 10, 2014

Here come the layoffs: Targacept-AstraZeneca R&D partnership nixed

After 10 years of focused R&D on an Alzheimer’s disease drug, Targacept and AstraZenenca have called it quits.

By Nicole Gray • Oct. 10, 2014

Novare Pharmaceuticals launches in Boston

The new biotech specializes in a type of tissue engineering that may have groundbreaking applications in treating inflammatory conditions and breast reconstruction.

By Nicole Gray • Oct. 8, 2014

Actavis shores up infectious disease franchise with Durata acquisition

With its $675 million buyout of Durata, Actavis is acquiring Dalvance (dalbavacin)—the very first FDA-designated qualified infection disease product (QIDP)—as part of the package. 

By Nicole Gray • Oct. 7, 2014

Baxter invests $45M in Rockwell Medical

The capital infusion will shore up Rockwell's hemodialysis concentrates division and allow the smaller company to focus on growth and expansion.

By Nicole Gray • Oct. 6, 2014

Optos to collaborate with UK government and universities

The $16-million collaboration is intended to develop cutting-edge optical imaging technology.

By Nicole Gray • Oct. 6, 2014

Bayer a top OTC player after $14.2B deal with Merck

Bayer’s OTC division is larger than J&J’s as of October 1 thanks to its $14.2 billion acquisition of Merck’s consumer care division.

By Nicole Gray • Oct. 2, 2014

Acquisition update: J&J buys Alios for $1.75 billion

Alios Biopharma brings a portfolio of potential treatments for viral infections, including a drug in development for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

By Nicole Gray • Oct. 1, 2014

Horizon hailed as 'world's leading gene-editing' company after acquiring Sage

Horizon is paying up to $48 million for Sage Labs, considered "a world leader in the generation of advanced in vivo transgenic disease models for use in preclinical research."

By Nicole Gray • Sept. 30, 2014

Amag Pharma buys maternal health specialist Lumara in $1B deal

Amag is paying $675 million for Lumara, bringing the well-known premature birth drug Makena into Amag's portfolio.

By Nicole Gray • Sept. 30, 2014

Acquisition update: Daiichi Sankyo buys Ambit Biosciences for $410 million

Daiichi is shoring up its oncology portfolio as it acquires Ambit’s late-stage acute myeloid leukemia drug, along with other cancer treatments.

By Nicole Gray • Sept. 30, 2014

Merger Monday: Pfizer snaps up Innopharma in $360M deal

Innopharma is an NJ-based pharma company that focuses on complex injectable delivery forms. 

By Nicole Gray • Sept. 29, 2014

GSK names Royal Bank of Scotland head its next chairman

Sir Philip Hampton joins GlaxoSmithKline at a tumultuous time. Luckily for the company, he has some experience dealing with chaos.

By Sy Mukherjee • Sept. 25, 2014

Collaborating with Chinese pharma: Inside one company's success story

CleveXel ​CEO Christian Bloy tells BioPharma Dive how his company cultivated collaborative relationships and leveraged its expertise in development and innovation to develop anti-malarials in China. 

By Nicole Gray • Sept. 23, 2014

Tax-inversion hopefuls balk at new White House plans to curb deals

Companies whose tax-shifting mergers aren't finalized are nervous about the Obama admin's "first, targeted steps" to curb the increasingly popular deals.

By Sy Mukherjee • Sept. 23, 2014

Merck KGaA buys lab supplies manufacturer in major $17 billion deal

Missouri-based Sigma-Aldrich is the largest supplier of biochemicals and organic chemicals to research laboratories.

By Nicole Gray • Sept. 23, 2014