The number of biopharma deals and mergers and acquisitions completed are on a downward slide quarter-by-quarter, although when taken as a whole, the industry in 2019 has completed as many transactions and is hitting a higher deal value than the year before, while M&A values are up by 32%.

DUBLIN – Shares in Ra Pharmaceuticals Inc. doubled Thursday as UCB SA made a $48-per-share bid that values the company at about $2.5 billion, or about $2.1 billion net of Ra’s cash.

Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Stealth Biotherapeutics Corp. reached a deal for an option to co-develop and commercialize elamipretide for mitochondrial diseases.

Reata Pharmaceuticals Inc. has agreed to pay former partner Abbvie Inc. $330 million plus royalties to reacquire ex-U.S. development, manufacturing and commercialization rights for the Nrf2 activators bardoxolone methyl and omaveloxolone, as well as other next-generation candidates in the class. Rights to certain Asian markets for bardoxolone remain licensed to Kyowa Kirin Co. Ltd.

Days after going public, Viela Bio Inc. nailed down a deal with Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corp. to develop and commercialize Viela's humanized anti-CD19 monoclonal antibody, inebilizumab, in nine Asia regions for the rare disease called neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD), as well as other potential future indications.

Bluebird Bio Inc. and Novo Nordisk A/S plan to develop in vivo genome editing treatments for genetic diseases, including hemophilia, over the next three years.

HONG KONG – South Korean pharmaceutical company Chong Kun Dang Holdings recently invested KRW5 billion (US$4.1 million) in Biorchestra Co. Ltd., a Korean startup based in Daejeon that aims to develop Alzheimer's dementia treatment based on microRNA.

Akcea Therapeutics Inc., a majority owned affiliate of Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc., and Pfizer Inc. signed an exclusive, worldwide licensing deal for AKCEA-ANGPTL-3-LRx, which is being developed to treat cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. The deal follows a period during which Akcea's stock (NASDAQ:AKCA) has sagged prior to rising Monday and big changes in the company's C-suite.

HONG KONG – South Korean biotech Bioleaders Co. Ltd., headquartered in Yong-in city, Gyeonggi-do, and Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science, based in Rehovot, recently founded a joint venture in Israel. With the new entity, they will accelerate the R&D of a Weizmann-developed approach targeting p53, a strong tumor suppressor that has proved difficult to drug.

CEO Mark McKenna told BioWorld that San Diego-based Prometheus Biosciences Inc. has "cracked the code" in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) – progress underscored by the firm's deal with Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., of Osaka, Japan, which brings an undisclosed up-front payment and as much as $420 million more if development, regulatory and commercial milestones are reached in three programs.