Deals
The sector’s IPO tally has surpassed each of the past four years, with four October debuts adding momentum—but activity still remains well below the COVID-19 boom that saw nearly 100 public debuts in 2021.
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BioSpace is launching an IPO dashboard to help the industry keep tabs on U.S. biotechs that have taken the public plunge in 2026.
After Abogen Biosciences’ COVID shot missed the commercial window, the big question was whether its mRNA technology could create value beyond vaccines. Novartis’ $575 million upfront commitment is the clearest external validation yet of that broader therapeutic potential.
After a frantic second quarter, M&A steadied with just under $30 billion across 22 total transactions, according to a BioSpace analysis.
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Estuary Biotherapeutics is seeking to address the root cause of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease with two gene therapy programs based on science from Yale.
AstraZeneca will tap AI-focused insitro to find new targets for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis and cardiomyopathies, following the Phase 3 failure of its Ionis-partnered Wainua in transthyretin-mediated amyloid cardiomyopathy.
A new biotech co-founded by Paul Stoffels has formed to take on the CAR T cell assets of Galapagos almost a year after the company—now known as Lakefront Biotherapeutics—abandoned them.
The Gilead Sciences deal, which include $135 million in upfront and near-term payments, marks a critical platform validation for Vir Biotechnology as investors await an upcoming readout in solid tumors.
Obesity-focused Zealand Pharma is buying into Generate:Biomedicines’s generative AI platform to create new multispecific drug candidates.
Johnson & Johnson beat analyst expectations in the third quarter but left Wall Street wanting more; BMS dominated the news cycle on Monday with a Phase 3 win validating its $4.1 billion RayzeBio buy and mixed data in a late-stage pulmonary fibrosis trial; Revolution Medicines’ newly approved pancreatic cancer drug works better for patients with certain mutations; and Caribou Biosciences may be on its way out.
While industry leaders are unsure whether the U.S. or China will prevail, they are largely united in the belief that Europe is lagging behind.
Roche has gained access to a genetic obesity approach from China’s Rona Therapeutics for up to $100 million in upfront and near-term payments.
After Pfizer’s venture arm co-led Enodia Therapeutics’ $25 million seed round in January, the pharma has signed up to collaborate with the biotech on small-molecule drugs to eliminate pathogenic proteins where they’re being made.
TRexBio and Retension Pharmaceuticals are set to debut Friday, bringing this year’s biotech IPO count to 29 as the sector’s rebound continues. City Therapeutics and Iambic Therapeutics hope to push that number even higher.