After only three $1 billion-plus biopharma deals in November, December saw 14 blockbuster deals worth a total of $21.92 billion, including four deals worth more than $2 billion.
Astrazeneca plc is paying up to $630 million to acquire China rights to Abelzeta's Pharma Inc.’s C-CAR031 (AZD5851), an autologous glypican 3-targeting CAR T, securing global rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize the CAR T for liver cancer.
With rumors regarding a couple of potential mega-mergers making the rounds, the week of the annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference kicked off with the official disclosure of some billion-dollar collaborations, leading with Abbvie Inc.’s exclusive licensing deal with Remegen Co. Ltd. for PD-1/VEGF-targeted bispecific antibody RC-148.
After raising $292 million in its Hong Kong IPO, AI discovery and development biotech, Insilico Medicine, signed an R&D collaboration with French pharma Servier SA valued at $888 million to discover and develop innovative oncology therapies by combining Insilico's AI-driven drug discovery platforms with Servier's global expertise in cancer drug development.
Securing a second major partnership with Sanofi SA – this time worth a potential $2.56 billion – Earendil Labs will provide its AI-driven discovery platform to find new therapeutics for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
Abbvie Inc. signed a $1.1 billion New Year’s Eve deal with China’s Zelgen Biopharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., gaining ex-China rights to Zelgen’s lead oncology asset, alveltamig (ZG-006), a trispecific T-cell engager targeting delta-like ligand 3. Under terms of the deal, Abbvie will pay Zelgen an up-front fee of $100 million, and Zelgen is eligible to receive $60 million in near-term milestones and could receive up to $1.075 billion in additional development, regulatory and commercial milestones, alongside tiered royalties on net sales outside China. Zelgen retains full rights in China.
After a volatile but ultimately strong year for biopharma stocks, 2025 delivered a mixed picture marked by sharp workforce reductions alongside resilient capital markets and high-value dealmaking.
In October, the Nobel Committee awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to Shimon Sakaguchi, Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell for their discoveries in the field of autoimmunity.
U.S. policy, China’s strategic rise, blockbuster deals and AI dominated South Korea’s biotechnology industry this year, with U.S. tariffs and the Biosecure Act’s hitch onto 2026 legislation serving as major topics of speculation.
Speed and innovation from Asia Pacific’s (APAC) biotechnology sector had big pharma scouring the region for the next oncology heir to Keytruda (pembrolizumab), Merck & Co. Inc.’s reigning blockbuster cancer drug.
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