Mergers & acquisitions
With fewer biopharmas making or planning workforce reductions so far year over year, layoff round size and M&A impact on headcounts will likely shape the number of employees who are ultimately on the chopping block.
Second quarter earnings continue to roll with Novartis and Roche reporting this week; Eli Lilly’s AtaiBeckley buy for up to $3.8 billion offers clear “validation” for the fledgling psychedelics space; more drama unfolds at FDA as the agency goes back and forth on its policy of publishing complete response letters in real-time; and IPO fever continues.
With PolyPeptide manufacturing peptides such as GLP-1 medicines, Samsung Biologics has identified the deal as a way to tap into fast-growing demand for obesity drug production services.
Eli Lilly’s proposed acquisition of AtaiBeckley is “the clearest strategic validation to date” of psychedelics as an emerging pharmaceutical category, according to H.C. Wainwright. The analyst cautioned, however, that the transaction should not be seen as “supporting a uniform re-rating of every psychedelic developer.”
With the AtaiBeckley acquisition, Eli Lilly is jumping into psychedelics, a drug class that Jefferies analysts say could herald the “biggest change” for the field of psychiatry.
Takeda’s cuts will go the deepest, affecting over 4,700 employees. Layoffs tied to M&A activity include BioNTech letting go of around 800 people at CureVac.
Biogen’s new data, presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference, supports a tau-focused approach to the intractable neurodegenerative disease; psychedelics are back in the news with more positive data from Compass Pathways and final guidance from the FDA; and the ATTR-CM space got a major shakeup with the late-stage failure of AstraZeneca and Ionis’ antisense therapeutic.
In this bonus episode, BioSpace Managing Editor Jef Akst and Angela Gabriel, content manager, life sciences careers, look at the Q2 job market and discuss encouraging signs for job seekers.
A surprising deal from Vertex Pharmaceuticals adds to Big Pharma’s acquisitive streak as Crinetics folds into the cystic fibrosis drugmaker. Meanwhile, IPOs and venture capital raises trend upward, but mostly for derisked companies. Plus, FDA decisions slow only slightly as the hunt for a permanent leader drags on.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ acquisition of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals is the largest pickup in the company’s history, according to analysts at BMO Capital Markets.
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