Deals & M&A

Torrent’s $245m acquisition of Curatio Healthcare has moved it up a rank to No.7 in the overall Indian pharmaceutical market apart from making it the market leader in cosmetic dermatology. While it’s a pricey deal, factors like growing prevalence of skin diseases and shift towards e-commerce bode well for future revenue growth in a nascent market

Axcella’s AXA1125, a therapeutic combination of amino acids, shows liver stiffness, liver enzyme and fat reduction benefits in Phase IIb interim look, but the firm lacks the cash to complete the trial.

Pfizer is buying Biohaven's migraine portfolio, but the rest of the pipeline is poised to be spun out and there have been two development setbacks. Despite verdiperstat's failure in ALS, the field had a same-day win with Amylyx's Relyvrio approval. 

Deal Snapshot: CRISPR-Cas9 co-inventor Jennifer Doudna-founded gene-editing firm inks its second large collaboration, teaming with Sanofi on off-the-shelf natural killer cell therapies for cancer.

The start-up will secure $70m from Genentech, after closing a series B financing, while it moves its first CAR-T program into the clinic for ovarian cancer later this year.

Deal Snapshot: The Dutch biotech planned to move its preclinical candidate, the EGFR-targeting LAVA-1223, into the clinic later this year. Seagen has shown interest in business development as Merck merger talks have quieted down.

GSK takes equity stake in Spero, and global rights to tebipenem except for certain Asian markets. Merck KGaA gets rights to Nerviano’s next-generation PARP inhibitor for cancer.

PARP inhibitors have had great success in treating a number of cancers but the German major has placed a $65m bet that Nerviano's selective PARP1 approach could produce a safer and more efficacious option.

Merging with the shell of troubled cancer biotech Sesen, Carisma believes its chimeric antigen-receptor-macrophage (CAR-M) platform can bring the immunotherapy application to solid tumors.

Plus deals involving Takeda/Puma, SillaJen/Basilea, Celltrion/Abpro, METiS/Voronoi, Yuhan/AtoGen, Biocytogen/FineImmune and Avance/C3.

China biotechs appear increasingly interested in partnering with domestic counterparts amid signs the Chinese government's restrictive "COVID Zero" policies are likely to stay until well into 2023.

Rocket's all-stock acquisition of Renovacor is valued at about $53m and adds a preclinical portfolio targeting genetically driven cardiovascular disease.