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.

Nuvectis Pharma Inc.’s shares climbed further after the oncology-focused biotech nabbed select rights to a late-stage complement factor B inhibitor (HSK-39297/NXP-100) and a phase I BRAF inhibitor (HSK-42360/NXP-200) from Haisco Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd. for $40 million up front.

Abbisko Therapeutics Co. Ltd. has entered a research collaboration and license agreement with Eli Lilly and Co. to discover and develop innovative medicines across multiple targets, with the aim of advancing novel drug candidates with global potential.

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.

SK Biopharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. is doubling down on AI-powered drug discovery through a new collaboration with Insilico Medicine Inc. valued at more than $2.5 billion. The milestone-heavy deal, announced at the BIO International Convention in San Diego June 22, will pair Insilico’s Pharma.AI platform with SK Biopharm’s central nervous system (CNS) drug development and commercialization capabilities, underscoring Korean and global biopharma efforts to embed AI across the entire R&D lifecycle.

MPM Bioimpact-spawned K2 Therapeutics Inc. inked a license deal plus option agreement, worth $980.5 million apiece, to gain ex-China rights to two of Antengene Corp. Ltd.’s preclinical anticancer bispecific T-cell engager (TCE) assets. The deal, announced June 21, will grant Singapore-based K2 exclusive rights to develop and commercialize Antengene’s ATG-106 outside of mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

Laekna Inc. is handing ex-China rights to internally discovered PI3Kα pan-mutant selective inhibitor LAE-118 to U.S.-based Vasque Bio Inc. in a deal worth up to $527 million, marking another asset-monetization move by the Shanghai company as it looks to fund and accelerate development across its oncology and metabolic disease pipeline.

Biopharma deal value through the first five months of 2026 reached $135.36 billion, outpacing every prior year and topping 2025’s previous high of $103.92 billion. May was the year’s biggest month so far at $41.78 billion in transactions, making it one of the strongest individual months on record, and far outpacing April’s $13.87 billion.

Fresh off a deal with Travere Therapeutics Inc. for civorebrutinib worth more than $1.14 billion, Everest Medicines Ltd. went on a shopping spree, striking three deals in six days to expand its pipeline and geographic reach across Asia Pacific.

Agios Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s potential $665 million deal for Oscotec Inc.’s cevidoplenib, a phase III-ready oral SYK inhibitor to treat immune thrombocytopenia, marks a new chapter of development focused on cancer therapy resistance for Oscotec, CEO Yoon Tae-young said.