COVID-19 Vaccine Rush Pushes Biotech Deals
For the past few weeks, we’ve discussed the widening effects of the current pandemic on healthcare M&A, particularly on the services sectors, but until this week, dealmaking hasn’t been directly focused on COVID-19. As the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries race to find a COVID-19 vaccine, companies are bolstering their efforts with new collaborations and acquisitions. They’re the first transactions of their kind, and we expect to see more in the coming months. This week, Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ: NVAX), a clinical-stage company focused on developing recombinant protein nanoparticle vaccines, spent $167 million cash to acquire Praha Vaccines from Cyrus... Read More »
PTC Therapeutics Scoops up Censa Pharma
PTC Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: PTCT) jumped into competition with BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: BMRN) with its acquisition of Censa Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Censa has developed CNSA-001 (sepiapterin), a clinical-stage investigational therapy for orphan metabolic diseases, including phenylketonuria (PKU) and other diseases associated with defects in the tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) biochemical pathways diagnosed at birth. CNSA-001 has been tested as a possible treatment for orphan metabolic diseases associated with defects in the tetrahydrobiopterin biochemical pathways. CNSA-001 is an oral formulation of synthetic sepiapterin, a precursor to intracellular tetrahydrobiopterin, which is a... Read More »
Genentech Bets on Bicycle-Based Therapies
Genentech, a subsidiary of the Roche Group (OTCMKTS: RHHBY), is betting big on a collaboration effort with Bicycle Therapeutics plc (NASDAQ: BCYC). The exclusive collaboration agreement between the two biotechnology companies hopes to develop and commercialize Bicycle-based immuno-oncology therapies against multiple targets. Genetech will pay $30 million upfront to Bicycle Therapeutics with a potential $1.7 billion in milestone payments. You might have guessed this based on the name, but Bicycles are Bicycle Therapeutics’ trademark platform. They are fully synthetic short peptides constrained with small-molecule scaffolds to form two loops that stabilize their structural geometry.... Read More »
A Good Start for Biotech in 2020
Early in January 2019, Bristol-Myers Squibb’s (NYSE: BMY) $74 billion acquisition of Celgene Corporation dominated the headlines. But despite that big deal, 2019 was a rather lackluster year for the Biotechnology sector. However, the opening quarter of 2020 is showing some promise. This year’s J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference came and went without any major announcements, but the Biotech sector is seeing a steady start, with a modest $930 million in spending with 11 announced transactions. A bulk of that dollar volume came from Incyte Corporation’s (NASDAQ: INCY) deal with MorphoSys AG (NASDAQ: MOR) for tafasitamab. The collaboration and license agreement aim to further... Read More »
2019’s Biggest Healthcare Deals, by Sector
2020 has just begun, which means it’s time to look back at the healthcare M&A landscape of 2019. Just three days into the new year, nearly 1,780 deals are already on the books for 2019. More deals will turn up as we search our many sources, but the number likely won’t top the record of 1,900-plus set in 2018. Thanks to the multi-billion-dollar deals announced in the Biotech and Pharmaceutical sectors, 2019 will set a new spending record. Preliminary data show $399.1 billion was spent on healthcare acquisitions last year, about 20% higher than in 2018. We expect that number to rise as we go through the year and the 10Ks and quarterly reports come out. It’s possible the... Read More »Schedule a demo
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