Mergers & acquisitions

Biogen is growing as planned, with marketed products generating more revenue and multiple late-stage readouts expected over the next year. Building out an early-stage pipeline would be a bonus, CEO Chris Viehbacher said on a Q3 earnings call Wednesday.

Growth portfolio products like Leqembi and Spinraza helped drive Biogen to $2.8 billion in revenue for the third quarter.

Merck stole the show at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) annual conference, with new data on its Moderna-partnered personalized cancer vaccine leaking prior to the presentation and antibody-drug conjugate sac-TMT making a splash in endometrial cancer; Bristol Myers Squibb revealed the death of a patient with multiple sclerosis in an early-stage trial of zola-cel; and pharma is on track to easily surpass last year’s deal count.

The largest pharmas have a collective $188 billion in firepower to spend on M&A transactions, with all but one signaling a desire to execute, according to a new analysis from Leerink Partners.

Gilead Sciences has picked up a new inflammatory disease program from China’s PepStar Therapeutics to pair with the Phase 2 inflammatory bowel disease asset emvistegrast.

China may be taking the majority of licensing deals this year but those transactions don’t tell the whole story, according to Locust Walk, which points to the spike in M&A among U.S. biotechs as leveling the playing field.

In this bonus episode, BioSpace Vice President of Marketing Chantal Dresner and Angela Gabriel, content manager, life sciences careers, discuss how the job market shaped up in Q3 and what Q4 might hold.

Silence Therapeutics’ lead siRNA asset for the rare blood cancer polycythemia vera has been earning analyst raves in a tight race to challenge Takeda in a potential $2 billion market.

The new policy signals an escalation by the Chinese government on biopharma deals but is unlikely to have a major impact given that the vast majority of foreign interest in Chinese biotech comes in the form of licensing agreements.

With an internal non-opioid program nearing approval, Viatris is picking up Pacira BioSciences for a broader pain portfolio and the associated commercial infrastructure.