Biopharma deal value through the first half (H1) of 2026 totaled $170.11 billion, the highest H1 total in BioWorld’s records by a wide margin and a 22% increase from H1 2025’s $139.35 billion, the previous record high. Both quarters were strong, with the first quarter (Q1) contributing $79.71 billion and Q2 jumping to $90.4 billion, the highest single quarter on record after edging past Q4 2024’s $80.65 billion.

In a rare event for the European biotech sector, Dutch/Belgian immunology specialist Argenx SE is to acquire a U.S. counterpart, Forte Biosciences Inc., in an all cash deal valued at $2.2 billion. The price of $77 per share is a premium of about 86% to Forte’s volume-weighted average price since it reported positive phase Ib data for the lead program FB-102 in vitiligo on July 9.

New drug approvals, financings and deals were seen across the Asia-Pacific biotech sector this week, with China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) granting clearances to Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.’s oral orexin receptor 2 agonist oveporexton for narcolepsy, as well as Haisco Pharmaceutical Group’s ciprocopan (HSK-39297) for paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria.

Dassault Systèmes agreed to buy Arisglobal for up to $2 billion as it strengthens its position in the life sciences sector, advancing its ambition to create a unified AI intelligence platform for the industry where datasets are currently fragmented. The deal brings together Arisglobal’s AI-powered safety and regulatory intelligence platform with Dassault’s own position in scientific modeling and simulation, to create what the company calls the industry’s first AI platform that unifies real-world evidence with virtual evidence.

The field of cell and gene therapy is moving toward a new phase of scalability and clinical durability, with in vivo chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapeutics emerging as the dark horse in what speakers at BIO Asia-Taiwan 2026 described as CAR T’s second revolution.

On the tail of rumors that Merck & Co. Inc. and others holding stakes in Personalis Inc. might take over the firm, Chicago-based Tempus AI Inc. ended speculation by disclosing its plan to buy the company for $16.25 per share, which amounts to an enterprise value of $1.5 billion net of Tempus’ existing ownership interest.

Leica Biosystems GmbH, agreed to buy Statlab Medical Products in a move that will strengthen parent company Danaher Corp.'s diagnostics and anatomical pathology portfolio with a broader range of consumables and instruments. Although the financial terms were not disclosed, RBC Capital Markets analyst Dan Leonard reckoned that the deal could be valued at more than $1 billion.

Biopharma deal value through the first half (H1) of 2026 reached $170.11 billion, surpassing every prior year in BioWorld’s records, including 2025’s $139.35 billion, the previous high-water mark. June was the second-strongest month of H1 at $34.59 billion, trailing only May’s $41.95 billion.

Rumblings that psychedelic treatments would soon be ready for prime time gained credence aplenty, and shares of Ataibeckley Inc. (NASDAQ:ATAI) ended July 16 at $7.15, up $1.79, or 33%, as Wall Street learned that Eli Lilly and Co. is taking over the psychedelics firm for $6.75 per share in cash plus up to $2.50 per share in the form of a contingent value right related to milestones for two Ataibeckley compounds.

Hansoh Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd. has taken a new step in the evolution of China’s “newco” strategy, combining its newly created U.S. company, Avere Therapeutics Inc., with Nasdaq-listed Nextcure Inc. in a deal designed less to merge pipelines than to create a public vehicle for global development of a China-originated asset.