Biotech Boomed Even Before Trump’s Election

by | Nov 11, 2016 4:31 pm | Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals | 0 comments

Now that Donald Trump has transitioned from presidential candidate to president-elect, his pro-business views have cheered many deal makers. His “repeal and replace” pronouncements regarding the Affordable Care Act have chilled some areas of the healthcare market, but others are thriving. Biotechnology is one sector that was already experiencing a boom in mergers and acquisitions, prior to November 8. Third-quarter deal volume surged 58%, to 52 transactions. Sixteen deals were recorded in October 2016, and in the first two weeks of November, 12 are already in our database. Ten of those are license agreements, as pharmaceutical companies swoop in to claim promising product... Read More »

NASH-Driven Deals Pile Up

by | Nov 9, 2016 5:06 pm | Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals | 0 comments

On November 10, 2016, Bristol-Meyers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) purchased the exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialize Nitto Denko Corporation’s (TYO: 6988) investigational siRNA, which includes Nitto’s lead asset ND-L02-s0201. Nitto’s lead asset ND-L02-s0201 is currently in a five-week open-label Phase 1b study in patients with advanced fibrosis (F3-F4c) due to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) or hepatitis C. Nitto Denko received a $100 million upfront payment as part of the license agreement, and it is not the first company to cash in on its product candidates for the possible treatment of NASH. NASH is characterized by fatty infiltration of the liver not caused by alcohol,... Read More »

First Half of 2016 Shows Strength in M&A

by | Aug 11, 2016 7:53 pm | Biotechnology, eHealth, Long-Term Care, Pharmaceuticals, Private Equity | 0 comments

Ever since the rally in health care mergers and acquisitions began in 2014, we’ve been waiting for the inevitable slam-on-the-brakes quarter. That rally was sparked by the advent of newly insured families and individuals entering the healthcare market, beginning on January 1, 2014. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, passed in 2010, health care M&A topped 1,000 transactions that year and has never looked back. Isn’t it about time for the party to end? Not according to our data for the first six months of 2016, compared with the same period in 2014 and 2015. (But if you read our monthly M&A roundup on page 18, you may have second thoughts.) In the first half of 2016, deal volume... Read More »

Bristol-Myers adds to immuno-oncology portfolio

by | Jul 8, 2016 7:46 pm | Pharmaceuticals | 0 comments

On July 5, 2016, Bristol-Myers Squibb (NASDAQ: BMY) acquired the privately-held, Sweden-based Cormorant Pharmaceuticals AB for $95 million. The driver behind this acquisition was gaining full rights to Cormorant’s HuMax-IL8 antibody program, which may result in an additional $425 million in development and regulatory milestone payments. Cormorant had acquired HuMax-IL8 from GenMab A/S in 2012 and has since taken it into development. It is a phase 1/2 monoclonal antibody that offers the potential to boost immune response and increase the effectiveness of existing cancer medicines through combination therapy. The addition of HuMax-IL8 enhances BMY’s existing pipeline of clinical candidates... Read More »