ADEL Inc. closed a year-end licensing deal worth up to $1.04 billion with Sanofi SA for ADEL-Y01, a specific tau-targeting Alzheimer’s disease drug candidate in a U.S. phase I study.

Two large deals and an acquisition, totaling about $4.64 billion in all, are helping wrap up what’s turning out to be a strong year. Through the first 11 months of 2025, biopharma dealmaking was robust with a collective value of $261.14 billion, the highest January through November total of the past seven years and well above 2024’s $201.35 billion. These three December deals helped revive the surge in dealmaking that had cooled in November.

Companion Spine SAS received premarket approval from the U.S. FDA for its DIAM spinal stabilization system, for treatment of degenerative disc disease. The approval comes as the company recently completed the acquisition of a number of assets from Xtant Medical Holdings Inc., including Paradigm Spine GmbH, as it continues to strengthen its position in providing solutions to treat spinal degenerative conditions.

Experience gained in the Asia-Pacific region is helping shape the Menarini Group’s global strategy as the Italian pharmaceutical company looks to emerging markets to drive long-term, sustainable growth.

Formation Bio Inc. acquired ex-China rights to Lynk Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd.’s oral TYK2-inhibitor, LNK-01006, for up to $605 million. The phase I-ready central nervous system (CNS) candidate will be developed at Formation’s newly formed subsidiary, Bleecker Bio.

China’s clinical trial volume has surged to nearly U.S. scale and now tops Europe, sitting at about 80% of U.S. levels and roughly 10% above the EU in 2024.

The quest for metabolic disease assets continues with another player promising top dollar for novel therapeutics that deliver. Copenhagen, Denmark-based Zealand Pharma A/S entered a collaboration and license agreement with newly formed OTR Therapeutics to pursue next-generation small-molecule therapeutics, beyond the Danish firm’s current peptide pipeline candidates focused on the GLP-1, GLP-2, GIP, amylin and glucagon mechanisms.

Through the first 11 months of 2025, biopharma dealmaking remained robust with collective value reaching $261.14 billion, the highest January through November total of the past seven years and well above 2024’s $201.35 billion. November contributed $15.62 billion, below the average of $24.55 billion per month and a notable decline from October’s unusually strong $31.91 billion, which was the single highest month of 2025.

China’s clinical trial volume has surged to nearly U.S. scale and now tops Europe, sitting at about 80% of U.S. levels and roughly 10% above the EU in 2024.

Cycle Group Holdings Ltd. is buying Applied Therapeutics Inc. for a small fraction of the company’s value when it went public in 2019. Cycle is paying $0.088, nearly 9 cents, in cash per share plus a contingent value right (CVR).