Merck Boosts Oncology Portfolio
The pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MRK) has announced a new acquisition, prepping up its oncology product portfolio. Merck purchased VelosBio, a privately held clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to developing first-in-class cancer therapies, for $2.75 billion in cash. VelosBio’s lead investigational candidate, VLS-101, is currently being evaluated in a Phase 1 and a Phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of patients with hematologic malignancies and solid tumors, respectively. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2020. Merck has been building up its oncology portfolio in recent months, trying to remain competitive in the growing market,... Read More »
Biotech Firms Bet Big on Oncology
The Biotechnology sector is placing a big bet on oncology. Throughout 2020, M&A in the Biotechnology sector has focused heavily on targets involving oncology research and products, both in deal volume and spending. Of the 97 Biotechnology deals reported through September 30, 26% involved oncology targets, with $37.25 billion in deal value, or 65% of the sector’s total announced spending, according to search results in our HealthCareMandA.com Deal Database. In the first three quarters of 2019, demand for oncology targets hit only 20% of deal volume, revealing an increased interest in 2020. Spending in 2019 for oncology targets and collaborations easily eclipsed the total this year,... Read More »
Bristol Myers Pumps up with MyoKardia
It’s been a busy year for Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) and its bankers. After two deals announced in 2020, the pharma giant is back for more with a $13.1 billion cash offer ($225 per share) for MyoKardia, Inc. (NASDAQ: MYOK). MyoKardia is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on targeted therapies for the treatment of serious cardiovascular diseases. Through the transaction, Bristol Myers gains mavacamten, a potential first-in-class cardiovascular medicine for the treatment of obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (“HCM”), a chronic heart disease with high morbidity and patient impact. A New Drug Application for mavacamten is expected to be submitted to the U.S.... Read More »
Illumina Acquires Cancer-Detection Company
Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN) is making a big bet on the oncology market. The California-based company is acquiring GRAIL for $8 billion, consisting of $3.5 billion in cash and $4.5 billion in shares of Illumina common stock. GRAIL was founded by Illumina in 2016 and was spun out as a standalone company raising $2 billion. The company uses Illumina’s NGS technology to develop data science and machine learning and create the atlas of cancer signals in the blood, enabling multi-cancer early detection tests. Illumina had already owned 14.5% of GRAIL before the deal, and Illumina stockholders are expected to own approximately 93% of the combined company, while GRAIL stockholders are expected to own... Read More »
Gilead Bets $21 Billion on Oncology Market
Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) kicked off this week with a multi-billion acquisition of Immunomedics (NASDAQ: IMMU). The pharmaceutical giant reached an agreement to buy Immunomedics for $21 billion, or $88 per share, a 108% premium to Immunomedics’ closing price on September 11, 2020. Immunomedics generated trailing 12-month revenues of $20.37 million. The deal will be funded through approximately $15 billion in cash on hand, as well as approximately $6 billion in newly issued debt. Immunomedics is a leader in next-generation antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) technology focused on researching therapeutics for hard-to-treat cancers, and is most known for its product Trodelvy, an ADC... Read More »Schedule a demo
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