On the heels of the multibillion-dollar licensing deal between Bristol Myers Squibb Co. and Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd, Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI), of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urging him to add biotechnology as a prohibited technology under the Comprehensive Outbound Investment National Security (COINS) Act of 2025.

Medtronic plc is strengthening its pain management portfolio with its $650 million move to buy SPR Therapeutics Inc. and bring the company’s peripheral nerve stimulation system for sustained pain relief into its neuromodulation offering. The deal marks Medtronic’s third tuck-in deal so far this year, following its $585 million purchase of Cathworks Ltd. and $550 million acquisition of Scientia Vascular Inc., and is also a sign of the momentum in M&A activity in the medtech sector with other players making strategic acquisitions.

As the most active biopharma acquirer of 2026, Eli Lilly and Co. offered to buy three vaccine companies for up to $3.8 billion combined, while it simultaneously released positive early clinical results of a gene editing medicine brought into the fold last year through its buyout of Verve Therapeutics Inc.

Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. announced after South Korean market hours May 21 that it gained successive rights to Turn Biotechnologies Inc.’s mRNA-based cellular rejuvenation platform from Hanall Biopharma Co. Ltd.

The recent multibillion-dollar licensing alliance between Bristol Myers Squibb Co. and Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd is not an outlier, but rather the clearest sign yet that China’s biotech industry has entered a new phase of global influence.

Med-tech M&A value through the first four months of 2026 reached $62.01 billion, the highest total for the period since 2022’s $73.58 billion and a dramatic step up from 2025’s $20.03 billion and 2024’s $5.74 billion over the same period.

Boston Scientific Corp. has invested $1.5 billion for a 34% equity stake in Mirus LLC in a deal under which it is also gaining an exclusive option to acquire the Siegel balloon expandable transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) system.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. stuck with the tradition of releasing bad news on Friday afternoon and good news on Monday morning with a pair of announcements bracketing the weekend. On May 15, 2026, the Tarrytown, N.Y.-based company announced disappointing data for its LAG-3 inhibitor fianlimab. And then on May 18, 2026, Regeneron announced better news in the form of a deal with Parabilis Medicines Inc.

Biopharma deal value through the first four months of 2026 reached $92.98 billion, outpacing every recent year and running well ahead of 2025’s strong $79.82 billion over the same period. January and February each cleared $30 billion, while March and April totaled $18.05 billion and $13.3 billion, respectively.

Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co. Ltd. is paying $60 million up front for an option to secure exclusive rights to Aribio Co. Ltd.’s oral phase III-stage Alzheimer’s disease (AD) therapy, AR-1001. The option fee plus license agreement has potential to tally $4.7 billion for Aribio, marking the largest deal for an AD asset inked by a Korean biotech company.