Eli Lilly and Co. plans to buy Centessa Pharmaceuticals plc for $6.3 billion in up-front cash and another potential $1.5 billion through contingent value rights, gaining access to a pipeline of orexin receptor 2 agonists for sleep disorders. The Indianapolis-based pharma is re-entering a field that has multibillion-dollar potential and one that could emulate the success seen with its obesity program. Centessa, of Boston and London, has a lead candidate, cleminorexton (formerly ORX-750), with positive phase IIa data in narcolepsy types 1 and 2 and idiopathic hypersomnia.
Introduced last year as a pilot program, the U.S. FDA Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher (CNPV) could be here to stay – at least for the duration of Marty Makary’s tenure as FDA commissioner. Since the FDA unveiled the CNPV last June, it has welcomed 18 products from 16 companies into the “game-changer” program for patients, as Makary described it. The goal is to provide an “ultrafast review pathway,” one to two months instead of the standard 10 to 12 months, for drugs and biologics of strategic national importance while maintaining the FDA’s scientific and regulatory standards, according to the agency.
Eli Lilly and Co. is deepening its investment in artificial intelligence-driven drug discovery through a multibillion-dollar expansion of its collaboration with Hong-Kong listed Insilico Medicine Inc. in a move that could broaden its reach into next-generation metabolic therapies.
At BioEurope Spring 2026, pharma representatives and investors shared their thoughts about current and future landscapes of different disease areas, and on how to move toward success – both at the level of individual companies and for indications as a whole.
Crushing the hopes of drug and device companies, the U.S. Supreme Court’s March 23 orders list showed it denied cert in Takeda Pharmaceutical v. Painters & Allied Trades, which sought to rein in the expansion of class action lawsuits.
In a sea of uncertainty, a large-scale, long-term Swedish study is the first to show that people using GLP-1 receptor agonists are less likely to have worsening mental illness. The study involved a national cohort of 95,490 people diagnosed with depression or anxiety disorder, who also were treated with any diabetes drug (apart from insulin).
Further weight loss details are yet to come this year, but Eli Lilly and Co. scored positive top-line results in Transcend-T2D-1, a phase III trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of retatrutide, an investigational first-in-class GIP, GLP-1 and glucagon triple hormone receptor agonist, as an adjunct to diet and exercise in type 2 diabetes (T2D).
Biopharma deal value reached $61.17 billion in the first two months of 2026, roughly a 60% increase from the $38.11 billion logged in the same period of 2025 and marking the strongest early year total in BioWorld’s records. The surge was driven by unusually strong activity in both months, with $31.16 billion in January and $30.01 billion in February.
The disjointed health care system that patients face today blocks a significant proportion of them from accessing life-changing, innovative drugs, prompting many in the biopharma industry to explore more direct-to-consumer (DTC) pathways. During Pharma USA, a Reuters Events meeting held in Philadelphia March 16-17, executives from Eli Lilly and Co., Roche Holding AG’s Genentech unit, Amgen Inc. and consulting firm ZS Associates, among others, offered glimpses into a future where R&D is no longer enough.
Biopharma deal value reached $61.17 billion in the first two months of 2026, roughly a 60% increase from the $38.11 billion logged in the same period of 2025 and marking the strongest early year total in BioWorld’s records. The surge was driven by unusually strong activity in both months, with $31.16 billion in January and $30.01 billion in February.
