Acquisitions are back, biotech. After a stagnant year with pharma sitting on a heap of cash, the fruits of in-person business development meetings are beginning to ripen.
And so today, Fierce Biotech launches the M&A Tracker, your one-stop shop for dealmaking in the biopharma universe. We’ll be keeping an eye out for everything from the Big Pharma bolt-ons and blockbusters to the reverse mergers and biotech-on-biotech buyouts.
December
Karuna Therapeutics
Date: Dec. 22
Buyer: Bristol Myers Squibb
Price: $14 billion
BMS is making merry with a $14 billion deal to acquire neuropsychiatry biotech Karuna Therapeutics. The deal represents a 53% premium to the share price at close on December 21 at $330 per share in cash. The star of the deal is KarXT, which was just accepted for review by the FDA at the end of November with a decision date of Sept. 26, 2024. Story
ImmunogenX
Date: Dec. 18
Buyer: First Wave BioPharma
Price: N/A
Celiac disease biotech ImmunogenX will fold into First Wave BioPharma in a business combination to create one company focused on gastrointestinal diseases. ImmunogenX brings the phase 3-ready asset latiglutenase into the mix. The company will continue to trade under the First Wave name and FWBI ticker. First Wave CEO James Sapirstein will coninue in his role while ImmunogenX's cheif executive will become president and chief operating officer. Release
Rain Oncology
Date: Dec. 14
Buyer: Pathos AI
Price: N/A
AI-focused Pathos AI will pay $1.16 per share of Rain, which Pathos described as a 17% premium on Rain’s share price on Oct. 13. The deal, which is expected to close in January, has already been voted through by Rain’s board and would see Rain operate as a subsidiary of Pathos. Story
Icosavax
Date: Dec. 12
Buyer: AstraZeneca
Price: $800 million
AstraZeneca is expanding its footprint in RSV, buying Seattle-based vaccine maker Icosavax for $800 million. That gives AstraZeneca control of the biotech's investigational RSV and human metapneumovirus (hMPV) vaccine, which new phase 2 data found "induced robust immune responses" in healthy older adults both as a single vaccine and in combination with CSL Seqirus’ adjuvant MF59. The British Big Pharma was one of the early entrants into the RSV treatment market with its approved, Sanofi-partnered antibody for infants, Beyfortus. The acquisition of Icosavax means it will be chasing the likes of GSK, Pfizer and Moderna with an adult vaccine. Story
Evofem
Date: Dec. 12
Buyer: Aditxt
Price: $100 million
Evofem hoped that approval of its contraceptive gem would be the start of a new era, but low sales and rough financing markets left the company on the hunt for an alternative. Enter Aditxt, which plans to buy the women's healthcare company for $100 million. Evofem won FDA approval for Phexxi in 2020 but in the first nine months of 2023 generated just $13.4 million in sales. The company will operate as a subsidiary of Aditxt, with current CEO Saundra Pelletier staying at the helm. Story
Cerevel Therapeutics
Date: Dec. 6
Buyer: AbbVie
Price: Up to $8.7 billion
AbbVie will delve deeper into neuroscience and psychiatric disease with the $8.7 billion acquisition of Cerevel Therapeutics. Even with a deep portfolio of neuroscience assets already in the pipeline, the outlay will still give AbbVie access to something it doesn’t currently have: a treatment for schizophrenia that is in phase 2 testing. AbbVie is set to acquire all outstanding shares of Cerevel for $45 apiece in cash. Story
November
ImmunoGen
Date: Nov. 30
Buyer: ImmunoGen
Price: Up to $10.1 billion
AbbVie notably acknowledged that it was aware of Daiichi Sankyo shopping around a licensing opportunity before Merck jumped on the deal, saying that it felt confident in its internal ADCs. Evidently, the Chicago-area Big Pharma was working on a significant purchase of its own. AbbVie is shelling out $10.1 billion for ADC maker ImmunoGen and its ovarian cancer med, Elahere. The drug won accelerated approval from the FDA in 2022. It's the third-largest acquisition of the year behind Pfizer's purchase of Seagen and Merck buying Prometheus for $10.8 billion. Story
T3 Pharmaceuticals
Date: Nov. 22
Buyer: Boehringer Ingelheim
Price: Up to $508 million
Boehringer Ingelheim is acquiring bacterial cancer therapy company T3 Pharmaceuticals in a deal that could be worth up to $508 million. The Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund has a history of supporting the Swiss biotech, funneling money to the company in 2020 to support the clinical launch of T3P-Y058-739, T3's lead program currently being assessed in a phase 1 solid tumor trial. While the companies said the acquisition could be worth up to $508 million, no other financial details were disclosed. Story
Freeline Therapeutics
Date: Nov. 22
Buyer: Syncona
Price: N/A
After mulling a potential buyout for a month, Freeline's majority shareholder, investment firm Syncona, will pay $6.50 for each remaining American share of the British biotech that it doesn’t already own. The $6.50 per share is a notable upgrade on the $5 offer that Syncona initially made last month. The final deal effectively prices Freeline at $28.3 million, slightly above the $25.1 million market cap the company has been sitting on this week. Story
Graphite Bio
Date: Nov. 15
Buyer: Lenz Therapeutics
Price: N/A
Lenz Therapeutics is absorbing sickle-cell-focused Graphite Bio in a reverse merger that will see the combined company reemerge with a focus on vision loss and $225 million in cash on hand at close. The merger marks an end for Graphite Bio, which launched in 2020 touting new technology for gene editing. Story
AexeRNA
Date: Nov. 6
Buyer: BioNTech
Price: N/A
BioNTech has been on a business development world tour in 2023, licensing a number of assets with a focus on oncology and antibody-drug conjugates in particular. But the company is taking the full acquisition route to start of November, buying small mRNA startup AexeRNA. The German biotech wouldn't disclose financial details about the deal. AexeRNA has publicly disclosed little about its work after being founded in 2020 by scientists at George Mason University and the University of Pennsylvania. The company describes itself as developing new therapies using its "next generation programmable and highly potent Lipid Nanoparticle (LNP) nucleic acid delivery system." The company's website was not operational at the point at which the deal was confirmed. Story
October
Mablink Bioscience
Date: Oct. 19
Buyer: Eli Lilly
Price: N/A
Months after making a move for Emergence Therapeutics, Lilly has struck a deal to buy one of its partners, Mablink Bioscience, to add more ADC technology and drug candidates to its portfolio. The Mablink buyout pushes Lilly deeper into the hot cancer modality. France-based Mablink is building a pipeline on PSARLink, a linker technology designed to reduce systemic toxicity and increase the amount of the therapeutic payload delivered to target cancer cells. Story
Mitokinin
Date: Oct. 5
Buyer: AbbVie
Price: $110 million
AbbVie has snapped up Mitokinin and its preclinical Parkinson’s candidate for $110 million upfront.The Chicago pharma has also offered $545 million in potential milestone payments to Mitokinin's existing shareholders. The deal stretches back more to March 2021 when the two companies entered into a purchase agreement to be decided on once the biotech finished IND-enabling studies for its compound, a PINK1 activator meant to correct mitochondrial dysfunction. Story
Point Biopharma Global
Date: Oct. 3
Buyer: Eli Lilly
Price: $1.4 billion
Eli Lilly is snapping up Point and its radioligand therapy pipeline for $1.4 billion, marking the pharma's official entrance into the radiopharmaceutical cancer therapeutic space. Lilly will acquire all of Point’s outstanding shares at $12.50 apiece for a total of $1.4 billion. The transaction has already received the stamp of approval from the boards of both companies and is expected to close near the end of this year, subject to customary closing conditions. Story
September
Applied Molecular Transport
Date: Sept. 21
Buyer: Cyclo Therapeutics
Price: N/A
Applied Molecular Transport (AMT) and Cyclo Therapeutics are merging, operating on the latter's name and management team. The two did not disclose an overall deal value, though Cyclo said it expected to issue about 7.6 million shares to AMT shareholders. The end of the line had been clear for AMT since March after the company laid off 57% of its team and said it was looking for a corporate escape route. The issues are largely sourced to the company's inability to afford, and subsequently partner up, on a phase 3 trial for lead asset AMT-101. The money crunch persisted even after AMT laid off 40% of the team and halted early R&D work in May 2022.
So long and farewell to AMT-101, as the focus of the combined company will be on Trappsol Cyclo, a late-stage treatment for Niemann-Pick Disease Type C1. Cyclo expects to complete enrollment for a phase 3 trial before the end of the year. Enrollment and dosing is continuing in a phase 2 trial testing Trappsol Cyclo as an Alzheimer's treatment. Release
Biocure Technologies
Date: Sept. 18
Buyer: Atriva Therapeutics
Price: N/A
German antiviral biotech Atriva has signed a reverse takeover transaction with Canada-based Biocure. The closing of the transaction depends on several terms and conditions, including the execution of a definitive agreement by Nov. 30 and Atriva or Biocure successfully raising a private placement of at least $15 million. If the deal closes, Atriva will provide Biocure with an exclusivity fee of CA$15,000 ($20,200) per month for at least three months and pay a finder's fee of $2 million through the issuance of Biocure shares. Release
August
Acer Therapeutics
Date: Aug. 31
Buyer: Zevra Therapeutics
Price: $91 million
Zevra Therapeutics is adding to its commercial Roladex by buying rare disease biotech Acer Therapeutics for $91 million. The deal centers on Acer's two commercial products, namely urea cycle disorder med Olpruva, which nabbed FDA approval in December. The company also boasts Edsivo, an off-label treatment for Ehlers-Danlos syndrome in Europe. Story
Mindset Pharma
Date: Aug. 31
Buyer: Otsuka Pharmaceutical
Price: CAD $80 million ($58.9 million)
Otsuka Pharmaceutical is snapping up Mindset Pharma, a biotech working to develop next-gen psychedelic and non-psychedelic medications for treating neuropsychiatric and neurological disorders. The deal is expected to close Oct. 19, upon which Otsuka will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Mindset in an all-cash transaction. Release
Embark Biotech
Date: Aug. 30
Buyer: Novo Nordisk
Price: $16 million
Novo Nordisk is paying $16 million to snap up Embark Biotech in its second weight loss takeover in quick succession. As well as the upfront payment, the Big Pharma has committed up to $496 million in commercial milestones for Embark’s science. All the biotech’s employees will transfer to a new group, Embark Laboratories, and the new company will focus on cardiometabolic disease. Story
Small Pharma
Date: Aug. 28
Buyer: Cybin
Price: N/A
Cybin is making a big move for Small Pharma, scooping up the latter psychadelic-based biotech in all-stock deal., though the two companies wouldn't spell out the estimated total value of the deal. Cybin and Small Pharma shareholders will own 74.5% and 25.5% of the new company, respectively, which will continue using Cybin's name. Small Pharma's potential largely rests on a clinical stage, DMT-based therapy to treat major depressive disorder. That asset, SPL-026, is being tested in a phase 1 trial as an "ultra-short" psychedelic therapy with the psychedelic experience lasting less than 30 minutes. The same asset is being tested as a "short" psychedelic therapy that lasts longer than a half hour. Cybin's lead asset is a psilocybin analog to treat major depressive disorder. Release
Zynerba Pharmaceuticals
Date: Aug. 14
Buyer: Harmony Biosciences
Price: $60 million
Rare neurological disease-focused Harmony has snapped up Zynerba, acquiring the company that aims to tackle orphan neuropsychiatric disorders, such as Fragile X syndrome. Harmony is set to acquire all outstanding shares of Zynerba for $1.1059 per share in cash, or $60 million total. The company is also offering Zynerba the right to make up to $140 million total in potential additional payments for meeting certain milestones. Release
Decibel Therapeutics
Date: Aug. 9
Buyer: Regeneron
Price: $109 million
Regeneron has added hearing loss specialist Decibel Therapeutics to its playlist in a deal valuing the biotech at $109 million at closing. Decibel’s lead hearing loss candidate DB-OTO is currently moving through a phase 1/2 trial for individuals with hearing loss caused by mutations of the otoferlin gene. The deal has a total equity value of $213 million including contingent value rights if certain enrollment, dosing and regulatory milestones for DB-OTO are met. Story
Pionyr Immunotherapeutics
Date: Aug. 7
Buyer: Ikena Oncology
Price: N/A
Ikena has snapped up private biotech Pionyr in an all-stock acquisition. The public biotech has gained all of Pionyr’s immuno-oncology assets—alongside $43 million in cash—in exchange for 12% of its outstanding shares priced at $7.15 per share. The deal comes after Gilead ended its partnership with Pionyr that included the exclusive option to acquire the biotech. Release
EQRx
Date: Aug. 1
Buyer: Revolution Medicines
Price: N/A
Alexis Borisy's EQRx is being acquired by another of the serial biotech founder's startups: Revolution Medicines. The deal will add $1 billion to Revolution's balance sheet, which will be used to push the company's oncology assets further into the clinic. Revolution has stated that it doesn’t intend to continue with any of EQRX’s R&D work. Story
July
Neoleukin Therapeutics
Date: July 18
Buyer: Neurogene
Price: N/A
Neurogene has agreed to merge with gene therapy company Neoleukin Therapeutics and persuaded investors to pump $95 million into the combined company. The biotech will secure Neoleukin’s Nasdaq listing and remaining money plus the new $95 million. Story
DTx Pharma
Date: July 17
Buyer: Novartis
Price: $500 million
Novartis is pushing further into neuroscience, paying $500 million upfront for siRNA-focused DTx Pharma. For its money, the Big Pharma is getting full rights to the biotech’s fatty acid ligand-conjugated oligonucleotide (FALCON) platform as well as three preclinical programs. Should those programs develop as planned, DTx will be eligible for up to $500 million more in milestone payments. Story
Pardes Biosciences
Date: July 17
Buyer: MediPacific
Price: N/A
Three months after a phase 2 fail for its COVID-19 antiviral, Pardes Biosciences has been bailed out via an acquisition. The offer of between $2.02 and $2.19 a share comes in slightly above the current shrunken share price. The new buyer, MediPacific, is controlled by Foresite and James Tananbaum, M.D., a founding partner of Foresite and a member of Pardes' board of directors. Story
Liminal BioSciences
Date: July 12
Buyer: Structured Alpha LP
Price: N/A
Months after further shrinking its pipeline, Liminal has accepted a buyout offer from its top shareholder, Structured Alpha LP, at a 135% premium from the biotech’s current share price. The deal will pay Liminal shareholders $8.50 per share, a dollar higher than the first offer relayed by the biotech’s management in April. Structured Alpha, run by Thomvest Asset Management, owned nearly two-thirds of the company when it first made the proposal a few months ago. Story
June
TeraImmune
Date: June 30
Buyer: Baudax Bio
Price: N/A
Acute care pharma Baudax Bio has snapped up cell therapy biotech TeraImmune. The acquisition adds the biotech's early-stage next-gen, autologous Treg cell therapy candidate for patients with Hemophilia A to Baudax's portfolio. Release
Sigilon Therapeutics
Date: June 29
Buyer: Eli Lilly
Price: $35 million
Lilly is buying its Type 1 diabetes partner Sigilon Therapeutics for $34.6 million upfront, which could grow if the biotech passes milestones from a first-in-human trial through to authorization in a major market. Story
Morphimmune
Date: June 29
Buyer: Immunome
Price: N/A
Immunome will merge with Morphimmune through a reverse subsidiary merger, while raising $125 million in a private placement. Former Seagen CEO Clay Siegall, Ph.D.—who left that company in disgrace after being arrested for domestic abuse and later assumed leadership of Morphimmune—will lead the combined company. Release
Qpex Biopharma
Date: June 26
Buyer: Shionogi
Price: $100 million
Japan-based pharma Shionogi & Co.'s subsidiary Shionogi Inc. is snapping up Qpex Biopharma. After the $100 million acquisition closes, the antibiotic maker will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Shionogi Inc. Release
Pherecydes
Date: June 26
Buyer: Erytech
Price: Unknown
Erytech shareholders have sided with the company over a persistent activist investor, greenlighting a merger with Pherecydes. The joint venture will be called Phaxiam Therapeutics. Story
Tourmaline Bio
Date: June 22
Buyer: Talaris Therapeutics
Price: Unknown
Talaris' search for strategic options has led to Tourmaline Bio, with the latter biotech jumping onto Wall Street via reverse merger. Tourmaline is developing an ex-Pfizer med licensed a year ago with plans to launch a phase 2b trial in patients with thyroid eye disease in the third quarter of 2023. Story
Spyre Therapeutics
Date: June 22
Buyer: Aeglea BioTherapeutics
Price: Unknown
Aeglea Biotherapeutics appeared to be on its corporate deathbed in April, after laying off virtually all remaining staff to stay afloat. But the company has evidently found its life preserver, buying Spyre Therapeutics in a stock swap deal and tacking on $210 million from a private placement. Story
Dice Therapeutics
Date: June 20
Buyer: Eli Lilly
Price: $2.4 billion
Eli Lilly is rolling the dice (and $2.4 billion) on the immunology-based platform company, with the acquisition set to close in the third quarter of this year. The Big Pharma will buy all outstanding Dice shares for $48 per share in cash for a total around $2.4 billion at the closing of the deal. Story
Surface Oncology
Date: June 16
Buyer: Coherus
Price: $65 million
Coherus has scooped up Surface Oncology to tack on a handful of additional clinical-stage assets to its immuno-oncology pipeline. The former biosimilar-focused pharma is fending off a lawsuit from AbbVie over a potential Humira rival. Story
Chinook Therapeutics
Date: June 12
Buyer: Novartis
Price: $3.2 billion
Novartis has seized the chance to buy Chinook Therapeutics for a pair of late-stage programs targeting the rare, progressive chronic kidney disease. Chinook has accepted a buyout bid worth $3.2 billion upfront, plus $300 million payable if it hits certain regulatory milestones. The upfront portion of the deal values the biotech at $40 a share, a 67% premium over its closing price Friday. Story
Theragnostics
Date: June 1
Buyer: Ariceum Therapeutics
Price: $2.5 million
Germany-based Ariceum is paying $2.5 million in cash for British biotech Theragnostics. The acquisition brings with it a couple of assets for which Ariceum could end up handing out an additonal $41.5 million in milestone payments. One of the newly acquired assets, THG-008, is a radiolabeled, cancer-imaging PARP inhibitor currently in a phase 1 trial at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York. Ariceum now also owns the FDA-approved Nephroscan, which is used to identify kidney disorders. Ariceum’s purchase also includes Theragnostics’ Ga-68 kit technology IP that’s currently licensed to Novartis, one of the Big Pharma leaders in radiopharmaceutical development. Story
Reunion Neuroscience
Date: June 1
Buyer: MPM BioImpact
Price: $13.1 million
Reunion Neuroscience will meet back up with the private market in a $13.1 million go-private deal, avoiding a pending delisting from Nasdaq. The small Canadian biotech will be acquired by biotech investment firm MPM BioImpact in an all-cash transaction subject to shareholder approval. The walls were closing in on Reunion, which is developing a psychedelic compound called RE104 for postpartum depression. In April, Nasdaq warned the company of delisting if it did not meet the minimum $1 share price rule by October 16. MPM BioImpact’s offer—representing a 43% premium on Reunion’s average share price—"maximizes value and is in the best interest of our shareholders,” according to CEO Greg Mayes. Release
May
GreenLight Biosciences
Date: May 30
Buyer: Consortium led by Fall Line Capital
Price: $45.5 million
GreenLight Biosciences is jumping off Wall Street less than two years after going public via SPAC. The mRNA-focused company once valued at $1.2 billion will return to the private market, taking a $45.5 million buyout from a group of investors led by Fall Line Capital. Story
Apexigen
Date: May 24
Buyer: Pyxis Oncology
Price: $16 million
Less than 300 days after going public, California-based biotech Apexigen has accepted a $16 million buyout bid from Pyxis Oncology. Buying Apexigen will give Pyxis a platform for antibody generation that it sees as complementary to its own toolkit of linkers, payloads and conjugation chemistries. Story
CohBar
Date: May 23
Buyer: Morphogenesis
Price: N/A
CohBar is abandoning plans to work with mitochondria to merge with privately-held Morphogenesis. The two companies will become TuHURA Biosciences and work on addressing the major limitations of existing immuno-oncology treatments. Story
VectivBio
Date: May 22
Buyer: Ironwood Pharmaceuticals
Price: $1 billion
Ironwood is handing over $1 billion to buy VectivBio, adding depth to a GI franchise led by irritable bowel syndrome med, Linzess. The acquisition gives Ironwood the rights to phase 3 drug apraglutide, currently in development to treat short bowel syndrome with intestinal failure. The prized asset is also being developed as a treatment for acute graft-versus-host disease. Story
Varian Biopharmaceuticals
Date: May 18
Buyer: Biodexa Pharmaceuticals
Price: Undisclosed
Oncology company Biodexa plans to scoop up Varian Biopharmaceuticals, a private U.S. precision oncology company. Biodexa currently only has one clinical asset, dubbed MTX110, that is being developed for three rare brain cancers. The company wants to build out its pipeline via VarianBio, a biotech that touts an investigational aPKCi small molecule inhibitor candidate for potential treatment of basal cell carcinoma and solid tumors. Release
XinThera
Date: May 9
Buyer: Gilead Sciences
Price: Undisclosed
Gilead is picking up PARP1 and MK2 inhibitor specialist XinThera for an undisclosed sum, adding a few early-stage prospects to its pipeline. The goal is to find a match for breast cancer med Trodelvy to take on AstraZeneca’s Lynparza. Story
Iveric Bio
Date: May 1
Buyer: Astellas Pharma
Price: $5.9 billion
Astellas is paying a cool $5.9 billion to enter an eye disease niche with the acquisition of Iveric Bio. The biotech is awaiting an FDA decision for the approval of avacincaptad pegol, a complement C5 protein inhibitor that reduced the rate of geographic atrophy progression in a phase 3 clinical trial. Story
April
Bellus Health
Date: April 18
Buyer: GSK
Price: $2 billion
GSK has bought out Bellus Health for its phase 3 chronic cough treatment camlipixant, a rival to Merck & Co.'s stalled candidate gefapixant. The Big Pharma believes that, even if camlipixant arrives on the market years after Merck does, a multibillion-dollar opportunity awaits. Story
Satsuma Pharmaceutical
Date: April 17
Buyer: Shin Nippon Biomedical Laboratories
Price: $0.91 per share, estimated $30 million*
Satsuma Pharma was in need of a helping hand to move its migraine spray forward, and the company behind the nasal spray tech stepped up with a 91 cents per share offer. Story
* Deal value calculated by share price multiplied by outstanding shares.
Prometheus Biosciences
Date: April 17
Buyer: Merck & Co.
Price: $10.8 billion
Prometheus created a lot of buzz with midstage data for bowel disease candidate PRA023 late last year. Merck emerged victorious with an offer of $10.8 billion, but it wasn't the only Big Pharma that tried. Story
StrideBio
Date: April 5
Buyer: Ginkgo Bioworks
Price: Undisclosed
Ginkgo is bolstering its gene therapy capabilities with the purchase of AAV gene therapy capsid specialist StrideBio. The goal of the acquisition is to gain the biotech's intellectual property, not to get into drug development. The company's TRX-330 program for arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy will be sold off. Story
March
Diffusion Pharmaceuticals
Date: March 30
Buyer: EIP Pharma
Price: N/A
EIP needed help to bring an ex-Vertex molecule into phase 2, and Diffusion Pharma proved to be the lifeline. The two companies decided to merge to create one publicly listed company to complete a clinical trial in dementia with Lewy bodies. Story
Jounce Therapeutics
Date: March 27
Buyer: Concentra Biosciences
Price: $1.85 per share, estimated $97.4 million*
Jounce and Redx planned to ride out the biotech markets together in a reverse merger. Jounce was expected to contribute at least $130 million to the combined group to fund Redx's ROCK2 inhibitor RXC007. But months later, Jounce bounced and instead took a deal from Concentra Biosciences. Story
* Deal value calculated by share price multiplied by outstanding shares.
Dynacure
Date: March 2
Buyer: Flamingo Therapeutics
Price: Undisclosed
Flamingo Therapeutics picked up Dynacure in a deal that will see the combined companies work together to develop RNA-targeted oncology therapies. Dynacure CEO Stéphane van Rooijen, M.D., will lead the combination with Flamingo CEO Michael Garrett at his wing as chief operating officer. Story
February
Adamis Pharmaceuticals
Date: Feb. 28
Buyer: DMK Pharmaceuticals
Price: Undisclosed
Another biotech searching for help after a rough go in the clinic, Adamis accepted a merger with neurology-focused DMK Pharmaceuticals. Story
Infinity Pharmaceuticals
Date: Feb. 23
Buyer: MEI Pharma
Target:
Price: N/A
MEI Pharma and Infinity Pharma will join forces in a biotech-to-biotech merger that will see a newly named company rise from the ashes. Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Infinity will become a wholly owned subsidiary of MEI, whose shareholders will own approximately 58% of the company. Story
VBL Therapeutics
Date: Feb. 23
Buyer: Notable Labs
Price: N/A
2022 didn't go well for VBL Therapeutics, and so the immune- and inflammatory-disease-focused biotech will merge with cancer-focused platform company Notable. Story
Erytech Pharma
Date: Feb. 15
Buyer: Pherecydes
Price: N/A
A new company focused on extended phage therapies will emerge from the combination of Erytech Pharma and French biotech Pherecydes. Story
Immunorizon
Date: Feb. 2
Buyer: Purple Biotech
Price: Up to $100 million
Privately held Immunorizon will come under the wing of Purple, which focuses on tumor immune evasion and drug resistance. Purple has two lead assets in the pipeline: NT219 and CM24 for solid tumors and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, respectively. Story
January
Concert Pharmaceuticals
Date: Jan. 19
Buyer: Sun Pharmaceuticals
Price: $576 million
Sun Pharma has plunked down a cool $576 million to go up against Eli Lilly's approved alopecia treatment with Concert's JAK inhibitor. Story
Flame Biosciences
Date: Jan. 17
Buyer: Leap Therapeutics
Price: $86 million
Leap Therapeutics hopped over to pick up Flame Biosciences for $86 million on a day busy with deals, adding another candidate to its pipeline. Story
4SR Biosciences
Date: Jan. 17
Buyer: hC Bioscience
Price: Undisclosed
In a merger of equals, 4SR Bio's sequencing technology will be brought over to hC Bio to identify more potential therapeutics. Story
Angion Biomedica
Date: Jan. 17
Buyer: Elicio Therapeutics
Price: N/A
Elicio Therapeutics caught a ticket to the public markets via a reverse merger with Angion Biomedica to continue pushing a cancer vaccine into phase 2 trials. Story
CinCor Pharma
Date: Jan. 9
Buyer: AstraZeneca
Price: $1.8 billion
AstraZeneca saw a good time to strike as CinCor Pharma's share price dropped throughout the winter of 2022. The U.K. pharma offered up $1.8 billion to bring on the blood-pressure-focused biotech, which is working toward a phase 3 study for aldosterone synthase inhibitor baxdrostat in uncontrolled hypertension. Story
Blacksmith Medicines
Date: Jan. 3
Buyer: Forge Therapeutics
Price: N/A
Blacksmith Medicines went back home in this transaction that saw the metalloenzymes-focused biotech spin right back into Forge Therapeutics. Blacksmith spun out of Forge in 2021. An entirely new entity, which the companies dubbed "the new Blacksmith," will emerge from the transaction to focus on oncology and infections. Story