AstraZeneca Expands Emphasis On China, Already A Key Market

 
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UK pharma will invest $2.5bn in Beijing R&D hub, build a vaccine manufacturing site with BioKangtai, and partner in chronic disease with Syneron and in oncology/immunology with Harbour BioMed.

Korea Needs To Think Bigger On M&As: KHIDI

 

A new report from a domestic institute on South Korea’s biopharma M&A trends shows a pickup in activity, but that this remains relatively weak and small-scale. It calls for broader domestic government support to build expertise, drive innovation and globalization.

Paratek To Acquire Optinose, Expanding Portfolio Beyond Antibiotics

 
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Paratek agrees to acquire Optinose in a “take-private” deal valued at $330m, adding chronic rhinosinusitis product Xhance to its antibiotic Nuzyra.

Sanofi Advances Immunology Ambitions With Dren Deal

 
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The France-based giant inks a transaction potentially worth around $1.9bn to get hold of Dren Bio’s autoimmune disease treatment DR-0201.


Black Diamond Gets The Gift Of Time In License Pact With Servier

 
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Servier takes a Phase I rationally designed cancer candidate for $70m up front, while Black Diamond will wait on more mature data for its Phase II lead candidate in lung cancer.

After Securing Biogen Pact, Stoke’s CEO Edward Kaye Bows Out

 

The 75-year-old veteran of rare disease drug development is handing over the reins to a successor, but will stay to help Stoke Therapeutics expand its pipeline.

Roche Adds To Its Antibody Armoury With OBT Alliance

 
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Deal Snapshot: The antibody-drug conjugate field continues one of the hottest dealmaking spaces and Roche continues to invest heavily. Its latest pact could be transformative for the UK firm which already has a decent number of big pharma partners.

Eisai Expands Dementia Ecosystem Via EcoNaviSta Acquisition

 
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Move to acquire profitable Tokyo-based venture part of Japanese major's strategy of building a broader ecosystem for dementia detection and care.


Taiho Expands Cancer Pipeline With ADCs In $400m Araris Buy

 
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Taiho’s acquisition of Swiss next-generation antibody-drug conjugate developer Araris is one of about 10 ADC deals so far in 2025. The companies previously partnered in 2023.

AstraZeneca Buys Into In Vivo Cell Therapy Potential With EsoBiotec

 

The acquisition is worth up to $1bn and adds to AstraZeneca’s broad array of cell therapy technologies.

Asia Deal Watch: Daiichi Sankyo Teams With Nosis On Extrahepatic RNA Therapies

 

Plus deals involving Hyundai/Pharma/Avelos, Yuhan/Boehringer Ingelheim, SciClone/Eisai, Viatris/Nxera/Idorsia, Nxera/Holling and Takeda/BridGene.

Plaudits For MeiraGTx And Its Parkinson’s AI Pact

 
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A joint venture with AI specialist Hologen will bring in much-needed cash for the ambitious gene therapy firm.


Illexcor Stake Gets Zydus Once-Daily Candidate For Sickle Cell Disease

 
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A stake acquisition in US venture Illexcor allows India's Zydus to get in on the ground floor for a potential once-daily sickle cell disease treatment. The candidate showed promising preclinical results in a field that has yielded mixed outcomes for global majors like Novartis, Pfizer and Novo Nordisk

Like Seeks Out Like: Endo And Mallinckrodt Plan To Merge

 
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Both vexed by bankruptcies and opioid litigation, Endo and Mallinckrodt will merge in a deal valued at $6.7bn. The new company will spin out its generics and sterile injectable business.

Unpartnered Obesity Assets Are Becoming Slim Pickings For Pharma

 

Evaluate Pharma’s top 10 list of unpartnered mid-stage obesity assets shows that few credible challengers to Novo’s Wegovy and Lilly’s Zepbound remain available.

Zealand Turnaround Complete In Three Years

 
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CEO Adam Steensberg has led a major change in fortunes for the Danish biotech since March 2022.


Multiple Factors Behind Accelerating Private Equity Plays In Japan, APAC

 

With two major deals since just the beginning of the year in Japan, private equity groups appear to be ramping up their presence in the country's biopharma sector, amid ongoing activity across the wider APAC region.

Ionis Gets Tryngolza Launch Cash From Ono Via Sapablursen License

 
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Ono agreed to pay $280m up front for global rights to Ionis’s Phase II polycythemia vera candidate, which analysts say was de-risked by recent data reported for other PV drugs.

Scrip M&A Podcast: Looking At M&A Activity As Q1 Nears A Close

 
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Scrip senior writer Joseph Haas discusses recent industry merger-and-acquisition activity with attorneys Jessica Bisignano and Gabrielle Witt of Hogan Lovells.

Roche Means Business With Biggest Ever Obesity Pact

 
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The Swiss giant has inked a deal potentially worth $5.30bn with Zealand to access the Danish biotech's long-acting amylin analog petrelintide.