Mergers & acquisitions
Acelyrin earlier this month agreed to an all-stock merger with fellow immune player Alumis, with their combined cash tiding the combined company over until 2027.
A year ago, AstraZeneca walked away from the bulk of its roxadustat partnership with FibroGen—though the pharma at the time decided to retain its relationship with the biotech’s China operations.
Despite expectations of dealmaking leniency, new FTC chairman Andrew Ferguson told staff that he will retain the current 2023 FTC and DOJ guidelines on mergers, upholding stricter anti-trust scrutiny on deals.
Back in 2023, Novo Nordisk committed up to $1.3 billion for a hypertension and kidney disease drug from KBP Biosciences. Now, the pharma giant claims to have been misled by the biotech’s founder—and a judge seems to agree.
Novartis is paying $925 million upfront to acquire Anthos Therapeutics, whose launch the pharma backed in February 2019.
Following an initial report from Reuters, Merck KGaA confirmed that it is in talks with SpringWorks for a potential acquisition, though details of its offer have yet to be revealed.
The carve-out acquisition will allow Bain to capitalize on the “promising signs for growth” in the Japanese life sciences market, recently revitalized by more industry-friendly policy changes from the government.
Alumis held its initial public offering in June last year, while Acelyrin debuted on the Nasdaq in mid-2023.
Despite significant dips in its vaccines sales, the British pharma narrowly beat consensus estimates for Q4 2024 and raised 2031 sales projections to just over $50 billion.
Of the 102 company launches or series A financings since October 2023, just nine had a woman at the helm, according to a BioSpace analysis. This is happening in an era of biotech where new company founders are searching for CEOs with a track record.
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