Deals

  • Close-up view of the Novo Nordisk logo mounted on the exterior wall of a building. The logo features a stylized blue Apis bull with a sun disk above its head, symbolizing the company's identity. The background shows a tan brick wall and part of a leafless tree in the foreground under a clear blue sky."
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    Obesity drugs

    Novo tops Pfizer with $6.5B bid for Metsera

    The offer sparked a bidding war between the two large pharmas over the obesity drug specialist, with Pfizer alleging Novo’s offer is “illusory” and “structured in a way to circumvent antitrust laws.”

    By • Updated 4 hours ago
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    Novartis’ $12B Avidity deal shows a willingness to take big swings in neuroscience

    A 46% premium paid for RNA candidates reflects what the pharma giant has sought to do for the last few years: aim at technology that fits into its own expertise.

    By Michael Gibney • Oct. 28, 2025
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    Novartis to acquire Avidity in $12B bet on RNA drugs for neuromuscular disease

    The deal, which Novartis expects can “unlock multibillion-dollar opportunities” in the years ahead, hands the company a group of medicines for multiple forms of muscular dystrophy.

    By • Oct. 26, 2025
  • A sign with Biogen's logo sits outside the company's Cambridge, Massachusetts, headquarters on Sept. 5, 2024.
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    Jacob Bell/BioPharma Dive
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    Biogen licenses a possible immune drug from OrbiMed-backed biotech

    The preclinical drug from Vanqua Bio is designed to inhibit “C5aR1,” a part of the immune system that regulates inflammation.

    By • Oct. 24, 2025
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    Adverum, hammered by gene therapy downturn, sells to Lilly in unusual deal

    Lilly’s upfront offer for Adverum, the developer of a gene therapy for age-related macular degeneration, is less than the company’s previous closing share price.

    By • Oct. 24, 2025
  • A grey exterior sign with Alkermes' written on it sits in a bed of flowers outside a glass office building.
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    Permission granted by Karissa Waddick
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    Alkermes expands sleep portfolio with acquisition worth up to $2.1B

    Analysts called the proposed purchase of Avadel Pharmaceuticals a “clear” strategic fit for Alkermes, handing it an already marketed product for excessive daytime sleepiness.

    By • Oct. 22, 2025
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    China competition

    Takeda stakes more than $11B on cancer drugs from China

    The Japanese pharma is licensing up to three next-generation cancer drugs from Innovent Biologics in a deal it believes to be “transformative” for its oncology portfolio.

    By • Oct. 22, 2025
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    News roundup

    Iambic partners with Jazz; Merck breaks ground on $3B plant

    The biotechs will assess a combination of two drugs against HER2-positive breast cancer. Elsewhere, Merck unveiled the latest piece of its more than $70 billion domestic manufacturing investment.

    By BioPharma Dive staff • Oct. 21, 2025
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    Courtesy of Novo Nordisk
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    Novo wagers up to $2.1B on Omeros’ rare disease drug

    The deal gives Novo rights to a drug it sees as having "multiple advantages" over other treatments for so-called complement-mediated diseases.

    By • Oct. 15, 2025
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    Obesity drugs

    Kailera nets $600M more to advance Zepbound-like obesity drug

    Among the largest private biotech funding rounds this year, the financing will support global trials of an obesity shot that just succeeded in late-stage testing in China.

    By • Oct. 14, 2025
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    BioCryst goes ‘all in’ on rare swelling disease with Astria deal

    A deal valuing the Boston biotech’s stock at $700 million hands BioCryst a long-acting injectable for hereditary angioedema that complements its daily pill.

    By • Oct. 14, 2025
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    Immune reset

    Bristol’s $1.5B Orbital buyout extends ‘in vivo’ cell therapy deal streak

    The acquisition of the well-funded startup is the fourth this year involving companies with technologies that can genetically modify immune cells inside the body. 

    By • Oct. 10, 2025
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    Novo joins MASH dealmaking surge with $4.7B Akero buyout

    The deal is the third acquisition since May involving a drug that could reverse liver scarring in people with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis. 

    By • Oct. 9, 2025
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    Bhagavatheeshwaran, Govind. (2016). "MRI Scan" [Image]. Retrieved from Flickr.
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    China competition

    Zenas looks to China to stock pipeline with 3 more immune drugs

    A potentially $2 billion deal with InnoCare Pharma hands Zenas rights to a BTK inhibitor in late-stage testing for multiple sclerosis and two other immune medicines in earlier development.

    By Kristin Jensen • Oct. 8, 2025
  • Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP1, 7-36) molecule The glucagon like peptide-1 receptor has a strong effect on the management of type 2 diabetes mellitus.
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    Obesity drugs

    Metsera strengthens case for Pfizer buyout with latest study data

    In a Phase 2 trial, a drug at the center of the $4.9 billion deal matched the type of weight loss trajectory seen in testing of Eli Lilly’s Zepbound.

    By • Sept. 30, 2025
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    Courtesy of Genmab A/S
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    Genmab to acquire closely watched cancer drug in $8B Merus buyout

    The deal hands Genmab a drug that showed the potential in earlier testing to extend survival in head and neck cancer when added to Merck’s widely used immunotherapy Keytruda.

    By • Sept. 29, 2025
  • A Pfizer logo sits atop the entrance of the company's Ian C. Read Laboratories in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Sept. 5, 2024.
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    Jacob Bell/BioPharma Dive
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    Obesity drugs

    Pfizer buys back into obesity drug chase with $4.9B Metsera deal

    The deal ends a short run as a publicly traded company for Metsera, which is being sold for more than double its IPO price amid enthusiasm for its weight loss medicines.

    By • Sept. 22, 2025
  • A sign with Biogen's logo sits outside the company's Cambridge, Massachusetts, headquarters on Sept. 5, 2024.
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    Biogen to buy startup Alcyone, eyeing easier delivery of RNA drugs

    The purchase gives Biogen full access to an implantable device that could help patients avoid the repeat lumbar punctures required for drugs like Spinraza.

    By Kristin Jensen • Sept. 18, 2025
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    Roche dives into MASH with $2.4B deal for 89bio

    Roche’s CEO claimed 89bio’s drug, which is in late-stage testing, has the potential to show “best-in-disease efficacy” for many people with the condition.

    By • Sept. 18, 2025
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    CSL nabs option to acquire a startup and its blood-clotting drug

    A deal with Dutch startup VarmX gives CSL an option to buy a Phase 3-ready drug that could reverse the effects of popular anticoagulants like Eliquis, which carry the risk of internal bleeding.

    By Kristin Jensen • Sept. 16, 2025
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    Novartis to gain heart drug in $1.4B deal for Tourmaline Bio

    Tourmaline recently unveiled mid-stage trial data for its anti-inflammatory drug, which is ready for Novartis to advance into Phase 3 testing for heart disease.

    By • Sept. 9, 2025
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    China competition

    Bravehart, a stealthy startup, looks to China to challenge Bristol Myers heart drug

    Led by the former CEO of Hi-Bio and backed by notable investors, the startup licensed from Hengrui a drug it claims is superior to Bristol Myers' Camzyos as well as other, similar medicines.

    By • Sept. 5, 2025
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    Brain drug revival

    Novartis thinks Arrowhead brain drug can succeed where others couldn’t

    A licensing deal worth at least $200 million will give Novartis access to a preclinical RNA medicine designed to combat diseases like Parkinson’s.

    By • Sept. 2, 2025
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    Royalty Pharma buys BeOne stake in Amgen lung cancer drug sales

    An $885M deal with BeOne Medicine gives the pharma financier rights to a revenue stream from global sales of Imdelltra, which is sold by Amgen.

    By • Aug. 25, 2025
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    AbbVie wagers more than $1B on Gilgamesh’s psychedelic drug

    The asset deal thrusts AbbVie to the forefront of the psychedelic field, handing it a therapy that recently scored positive Phase 2 results in major depression.

    By • Aug. 25, 2025