Highbridge Capital Management, based in New York City, announced on March 27 that it entered into an agreement to acquire Gamida Cell, an Israeli biotechnology company.   The agreement will see Highbridge Capital Management convert $75 million of existing unsecured convertible senior notes into equity in Gamida as well as supply $30 million of new capital to Gamida.  Gamida Cell is a cell therapy pioneer working to turn cells into powerful therapeutics. Its proprietary nicotinamide technology expands the number of cells while maintaining their intrinsic properties to create potentially curative cell therapy products and candidates for patients with cancer. Gamida entered 2024... Read More »
Novo Nordisk Inks $1 Billion Buyout of Cardior Pharmaceuticals

Novo Nordisk Inks $1 Billion Buyout of Cardior Pharmaceuticals

Novo Nordisk announced that it has agreed to acquire Cardior Pharmaceuticals for up to €1.025 billion (approximately $1.1 billion USD), including an upfront payment and additional payments if certain development and commercial milestones are achieved. The acquisition is an important step forward in Novo Nordisk’s strategy to establish a presence in the cardiovascular disease treatment space. Cardior Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of RNA-based therapeutics designed to prevent, repair and reverse cardiovascular diseases. Cardior’s therapeutic approach uses distinctive non-coding RNAs as a platform for addressing... Read More »

AbbVie Acquires Landos Biopharma for $137.5 Million 

On March 25, Chicago-based AbbVie Inc. announced that it entered into an agreement to acquire Landos Biopharma for $137.5 million.  AbbVie will acquire Landos at a price of $20.42 per share in cash upon closing, plus one non-tradable contingent value right per share with a value of up to $11.14 per share, or approximately an additional $75 million in the aggregate, subject to the achievement of a clinical development milestone.  Landos Biopharma is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of first-in-class oral therapeutics for patients with autoimmune diseases.  Landos’ lead investigational asset is NX-13, a first-in-class oral NLRX1... Read More »
AstraZeneca Acquires Fusion Pharmaceuticals for $2 Billion

AstraZeneca Acquires Fusion Pharmaceuticals for $2 Billion

AstraZeneca announced on March 19 that it entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Fusion Pharmaceuticals Inc., based in Hamilton, Canada. Fusion will become a wholly owned subsidiary of AstraZeneca, with operations continuing in Canada and the United States. The upfront cash portion of the consideration represents a transaction value of approximately $2 billion. Combined, the upfront and maximum potential contingent value payments represent, if achieved, a transaction value of approximately $2.4 billion. Fusion Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation radioconjugates (RC). Fusion’s clinical-stage development portfolio includes its lead... Read More »
Novo Nordisk Inks $1 Billion Buyout of Cardior Pharmaceuticals

AstraZeneca Acquires Amolyt Pharma From Sofinnova Partners

Sofinnova Partners announced on March 14 that its portfolio company, Amolyt Pharma, has entered into a definitive agreement with AstraZeneca for its acquisition. The transaction includes $800 million upfront at deal closing, plus the right for Amolyt Pharma’s shareholders to receive an additional contingent payment of $250 million payable upon achievement of a specified regulatory milestone. Amolyt Pharma is a global, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development of therapeutic peptides for rare endocrine and related diseases. Its portfolio includes eneboparatide (AZP-3601), a long-acting PTH1 receptor agonist as a potential treatment for hypoparathyroidism, and... Read More »
Ginkgo Bioworks Makes 3 Acquisitions

Ginkgo Bioworks Makes 3 Acquisitions

Last week, Ginkgo Bioworks, a Boston-based Biotechnology company, announced that it completed three transactions.   The first transaction is the acquistion of Patch Biosciences. Patch Biosciences has developed an artificial intelligence platform for sequence design that could create more effective, specific and durable genetic medicines. The company was backed by venture and investment firms Andreessen Horowitz, Casdin Capital and S32.  The second acquisition is of Reverie Labs. Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Reverie Labs is a cancer therapeutics biotechnology company that built and used artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning tools to accelerate drug... Read More »