Med-tech M&As through the first half (H1) of 2026 reached $75.73 billion in collective value, the highest H1 total since 2022’s $120.4 billion and well above every other year in BioWorld’s records. June contributed $12.21 billion, a rebound from May’s relatively quiet $1.51 billion.

Astrazeneca plc has added a dual PDE3/4 inhibitor candidate to its chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) portfolio via a deal worth up to $2.1 billion with Chia Tai Tianqing Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd., a Sino Biopharmaceutical Ltd. subsidiary.

Representing the fourth largest biopharma M&A announced in 2026, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. offered $85 per share in cash, or about $10 billion, to buy endocrine specialist Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Inc., adding the acromegaly drug Palsonify and a phase III asset, atumelnant, for congenital adrenocorticotropic hyperplasia (CAH).

Novartis AG is to pay $1.1 billion up front to acquire Myricx Bio Ltd., a preclinical-stage antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) specialist that is advancing a novel and more potent class of payload. With the first two programs due to enter clinical development before the end of the year, the Swiss pharma also will pay up to $400 million more in potential milestones. The centerpiece of the deal is London-based Myricx’s N-myristoyltransferase inhibitors, which in preclinical testing have prompted complete and durable tumor regression at well-tolerated doses in a range of solid tumors.

Astrazeneca plc has returned to China’s CSPC Pharmaceutical Group Ltd. for another discovery collaboration, this time in a deal worth up to $1.77 billion to use CSPC’s siRNA drug discovery platform and extrahepatic targeted delivery technology to develop small nucleic acid drug candidates.

Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc.’s deal to buy Pacira Biosciences Inc.’s Iovera system for up to $140 million and Eurobio Scientific SA’s acquisition of Caredx Inc.’s lab products business for $171.2 million are symptomatic of a broader trend among med-tech and diagnostics companies using targeted acquisitions to strengthen specific areas of their portfolio.

Ipsen SA announced its second acquisition of the week, saying it will pay €700 million (US$797 million) for Memo Therapeutics AG and its phase III-ready drug potravitug, a treatment for BK virus-associated infections and nephropathy in immune-compromised kidney transplant patients.

A U.S. biotechnology company founded by Deerfield Management Company L.P. licensed exclusive rights to Metis Techbio Co. Ltd.’s preclinical trispecific T-cell engager (TCE) for autoimmune disorders in a potential $1.62 billion deal.

One company was looking to add to its royalty stream and R&D portfolio. The other was seeking strategic alternatives in the wake of clinical misfires over the last few years. In an agreement aimed at satisfying both goals, Zymeworks Inc. will acquire Theravance Biopharma Inc., paying $17 per share, or about $929 million, though the transaction is structured in a way that minimizes the former’s current capital position.