The COVID-19 pandemic sent the world into a tailspin, raising ongoing concerns about biosecurity, a subject that encompassed the better part of the morning June 16, the first day of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization’s annual conference in Boston.
Supernus Pharmaceuticals Inc. is buying Sage Therapeutics Inc. for about $795 million. The deal brings Supernus, already firmly in the CNS market, the only U.S. FDA-approved oral treatment for postpartum depression. Supernus CEO Jack Khattar said he believes sales will support the acquisition, but some analysts had their doubts.
Med-tech M&A activity dipped in May, reaching $1.52 billion, down from $2.07 billion in April and a far cry from the highs seen earlier this year, such as $4.92 billion in January and $5.99 billion in February.
Biopharma deal activity continued its record-breaking pace in 2025, reaching $103.76 billion in total value through the first five months, the highest year-to-date total in BioWorld’s records. That figure marks a nearly 20% increase over the $86.68 billion recorded during the same period in 2024.
Four biotech companies from South Korea announced new or planned financings mid-June, including GC Genome Corp. Rznomics Inc., G2Gbio Inc. and Mezzion Pharma Co. Ltd. Six major mid-June deals included R&D pacts between Y-Biologics Inc. and Crosspoint Therapeutics, Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. and Salipro Biotech AB, Next & Bio Inc. and GC Cell Corp., Galux Inc. and Hanall Biopharma Co. Ltd., Celltrion Inc. and Onconic Therapeutics Inc., and SK Plasma Co. Ltd. and Aimedbio Inc.
Cullinan Therapeutics Inc. swept up ex-China rights to a multiple myeloma (MM)-targeting BCMAxCD3 bispecific T-cell engager (TCE) velinotamig from Chongqing Genrix Biopharmaceutical Co. Ltd. via a potential $712 million deal June 4. The plan is to repurpose the cancer drug to autoimmune disease.
Three years after litigation started over technology used in an mRNA vaccine for COVID-19, Biontech SE is acquiring its adversary, Curevac NV, through an all-stock transaction valued at about $1.25 billion. The amount is lower than the $3 billion in backpay Curevac could win through the lawsuit if a low mid-single-digit royalty were awarded, Evercore ISI analysts Jon Miller and Umer Raffat said. But the legal uncertainty has weighed heavily on the company, which shed 30% of its workforce last July and sold off rights to two of its infectious disease vaccines.
Philochem AG’s ligand-targeting approach drew to the table Bristol Myers Squibb Co. in a potential $1.35 billion agreement granting BMS subsidiary Rayzebio Inc. exclusive worldwide rights to OncoACP3, a diagnostic and therapeutic candidate targeting prostate cancer.
Deep Apple Therapeutics Inc. could bring in as much as $812 million in a new collaboration and license deal with Novo Nordisk A/S. The total includes an unspecified up-front payment, research costs and milestones. The two plan to develop and commercialize oral small molecules for non-incretin G-protein coupled receptor targets for treating cardiometabolic diseases, including obesity, a core specialty for Novo Nordisk.
3Sbio Inc. reported interim phase II study results of its PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibody, SSGJ-707 – a “fabulous” asset, according to Pfizer Inc. CEO Albert Bourla, that landed in Pfizer’s cancer arsenal via a potential $6 billion deal in May, of which $1.2 billion was paid up front.
RSS
