Deals
J&J will hand over the rights to bota-vec for $25 million upfront, clearing MeiraGTx to seek regulatory approvals in the U.S. and EU in 2027.
FEATURED STORIES
Gilead Sciences has inked three deals this year so far totaling $14.77 billion, a marked escalation of the company’s usual M&A pace. Executives detailed the rationale for buying Arcellx, Ouro Medicine and Tubulis GmbH and whether they are interested in further deals.
Deal-hungry Big Pharmas, a long-sought biotech prize, an infrequent buyer and one serial biotech rabblerouser highlight a busy quarter in biopharma M&A.
Protagonist Therapeutics will now sit back and collect cash from the J&J partnership, including an immediate $50 million payment.
Subscribe to BioPharm Executive
Market insights and trending stories for biopharma leaders, in your inbox every Wednesday
THE LATEST
Roche is jumping into degrader-antibody conjugates, a modality that in recent years has attracted investments from Merck KGaA and Bristol Myers Squibb.
Another bidder, which remains unidentified, dropped out of the bidding process. Analysts at William Blair now think it unlikely that another suitor could offer a counter-proposal to Merck’s outstanding $6.7 billion acquisition offer.
The approval of Eli Lilly’s oral obesity drug officially ignites an intense competition with Novo Nordisk’s oral Wegovy; Gilead Sciences and Neurocrine Biosciences keep the M&A train chugging; Trump hits pharma with his long promised tariffs, and the FDA proposes many changes with 2027 budget.
The acquisition of Tubulis GmbH—Gilead Sciences’ latest of the year after buying Arcellx and Ouro Medicines—brings into the fold a novel ovarian cancer candidate that has demonstrated promising mid-stage data.
While an acquisition is a good exit for Soleno Therapeutics, the company’s acceptance of Neurocrine Biosciences’ $53-per-share offer came as a surprise to Stifel analysts given the potential growth of Vykat XR, approved last year for extreme hunger in patients with Prader-Willi syndrome.
Takeda and Denali Therapeutics first partnered in early 2018 to advance drugs for neurodegenerative diseases. One asset, for Alzheimer’s disease, was previously discontinued after an FDA hold and disappointing early data.
After a flurry of deals over the past week from Eli Lilly, Merck and Biogen, analysts predict more M&A action from other big names, including Novartis, Amgen and AbbVie.
Biogen, Eli Lilly, Merck and Novartis spent more than $20 billion to absorb biotechs with promising or approved drugs; the rare disease space notched approvals for therapies from Denali Therapeutics, Rocket Pharmaceuticals and Biogen; and Wave’s stock lost half its value after its RNA-based obesity candidate failed to impress investors.
In addition to delivering two approved medicines to Biogen’s portfolio, the acquisition of Apellis Pharmaceuticals will support the future launch of the pharma’s own kidney disease asset, currently in multiple Phase 3 trials.
In the buyout, Eli Lilly picks up Centessa Pharmaceuticals’ lead asset cleminorexton, which could go toe-to-toe with Takeda’s oveporexton, currently under FDA review with a decision expected in the third quarter.