Eli Lilly and Co. is deepening its investment in artificial intelligence-driven drug discovery through a multibillion-dollar expansion of its collaboration with Hong-Kong listed Insilico Medicine Inc. in a move that could broaden its reach into next-generation metabolic therapies. Under the deal terms, Insilico is eligible to receive $115 million up front, plus development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments worth $2.75 billion, in addition to sales-based royalties. In exchange, Lilly gains exclusive global rights to develop and commercialize multiple candidates generated using Insilico’s AI platform, including preclinical oral therapies.

Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. is taking a neuroplastogen approach to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) through its planned $1.22 billion acquisition of Transcend Therapeutics Inc. The deal gives Tokyo-headquartered Otsuka access to Transcend’s lead asset, TSND-201, an oral neuroplastogen that has begun patient recruitment for a phase III study in the U.S.

Galapagos NV is about to bury its recent turbulent past and sail off for the future with its $3 billion cash pile and the new name of Lakefront Biotherapeutics NV. The foundation for the transition was laid earlier this month in an arrangement with Gilead Sciences Inc., holder of 25% of Galapagos’ equity, to “co-parent” the assets of Ouro Medicines LLC, which Gilead is acquiring for up to $2.17 billion.

Biogen Inc. hardly blinked at the competition faced by Apellis Pharmaceuticals Inc. as the two companies sealed a deal whereby the former has agreed to acquire all outstanding shares of the latter for $41 each, or about $5.6 billion.

Eli Lilly and Co. plans to buy Centessa Pharmaceuticals plc for $6.3 billion in up-front cash and another potential $1.5 billion through contingent value rights, gaining access to a pipeline of orexin receptor 2 agonists for sleep disorders. The Indianapolis-based pharma is re-entering a field that has multibillion-dollar potential and one that could emulate the success seen with its obesity program. Centessa, of Boston and London, has a lead candidate, cleminorexton (formerly ORX-750), with positive phase IIa data in narcolepsy types 1 and 2 and idiopathic hypersomnia.

Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. is taking a neuroplastogen approach to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) through its planned $1.22 billion acquisition of Transcend Therapeutics Inc. The deal gives Tokyo-headquartered Otsuka access to Transcend’s lead asset, TSND-201, an oral neuroplastogen that has begun patient recruitment for a phase III study in the U.S.

Eli Lilly and Co. is deepening its investment in artificial intelligence-driven drug discovery through a multibillion-dollar expansion of its collaboration with Hong-Kong listed Insilico Medicine Inc. in a move that could broaden its reach into next-generation metabolic therapies.

Just five months after raising a $70 million series A round, newly launched Excellergy Inc. agreed to a $2 billion M&A transaction that would bring its trifunctional allergic effector cell response inhibitors (ECRIs) to Novartis AG.

Only a few months after reporting what it called “unprecedented” phase I data for its BCR-ABL1 tyrosine kinase inhibitor in chronic myeloid leukemia, Terns Pharmaceuticals Inc. agreed to an acquisition by Merck & Co. Inc. valued at about $6.7 billion. For Terns, the deal validates the decision last year to switch focus from its metabolic pipeline to oncology and, for Merck, it’s the latest move as the big pharma looks to shore up its offerings ahead of patent expirations for cancer blockbuster drug Keytruda (pembrolizumab).

U.S. lawmakers and industry experts are raising alarm over China’s expanding dominance across the pharmaceutical supply chain, warning that reliance on Chinese inputs poses a growing national security and public health risk.