Biotechnology Acquisitions in 2021

Aditxt Inc. (Nasdaq: ADTX) signed a share exchange agreement to acquire AiPharma Global Holdings LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of AiPharma Group Ltd., in a two-step transaction that initially transfers a 9.5% interest followed by the remaining 90.5% subject to closing conditions and shareholder/Nasdaq approvals. The deal would give Aditxt commercial presence in infectious disease therapeutics and access to AiPharma's rights to Avigan (favipiravir) and related antiviral assets and distribution networks.

Organigram Holdings Inc. has invested an additional $2.5 million in secured convertible debentures of Hyasynth Biologicals Inc., bringing its total investment to $10.0 million. The financing is intended to advance Hyasynth's production scalability, R&D into rare cannabinoids and commercial partnerships as the company scales fermentation-based cannabinoid manufacturing.

Novartis has agreed to acquire UK-based Gyroscope Therapeutics for $800 million upfront with up to $700 million in contingent milestone payments, adding GT005 — an AAV2-based, one-time investigational gene therapy for geographic atrophy secondary to AMD — and early-stage retinal assets to its ophthalmology pipeline. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals; Gyroscope will continue to operate independently until closing.

Sanofi has entered into an agreement to acquire Amunix Pharmaceuticals for an upfront payment of approximately $1.0 billion plus up to $225 million in potential development milestones. The acquisition gives Sanofi Amunix’s Pro‑XTEN/XPAT/XPAC masking technology and a pipeline of conditionally activated T‑cell engagers and cytokine therapies (including lead candidate AMX‑818), expanding Sanofi’s immuno‑oncology capabilities.

Agomab Therapeutics NV has completed the acquisition of Spanish biotech Origo Biopharma, integrating Origo's team and facilities in Touro and Barcelona into Agomab's organization. The deal combines Origo's organ‑restricted small‑molecule platform targeting the TGF‑β pathway with Agomab's HGF‑targeting antibody programs to broaden the combined clinical‑stage pipeline for fibrosis therapeutics.

CellCarta has acquired Biogazelle, a Ghent-based leader in digital PCR (dPCR), qPCR and RNASeq assay development, to strengthen and expand its genomic capabilities. The acquisition creates a Center of Excellence for complex genomic biomarker assay development within CellCarta and broadens its service offering for pharmaceutical and biotech clients across discovery and clinical stages.

Vaccitech plc acquired US-based Avidea Technologies, Inc. for approximately $40 million (about $12.5M cash and $27.5M in Vaccitech ADS) plus potential milestone payments. The deal brings Avidea's SNAPvax™ nanoparticle platform and early-stage product candidates into Vaccitech's pipeline, expands Vaccitech's U.S. R&D presence, and adds Avidea co-founders to Vaccitech's scientific team.

Organon completed the acquisition of Forendo Pharma, a Turku-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on women's health, including a Phase 2 candidate FOR-6219 for endometriosis and a preclinical program for PCOS. Consideration includes $75 million upfront, assumption of ~$9 million debt, up to $270 million in development/regulatory milestones and up to $600 million in commercial milestones (total potential consideration up to $954 million).

Alloy Therapeutics has acquired deepCDR Biologics, a Basel-based developer of deep learning technology for antibody discovery and optimization. Alloy will integrate deepCDR's team and ML-driven bioinformatics capabilities into its Alloy Discovery Services, expand the Basel site as a permanent research facility, and hire additional computational scientists.

Cyrus Biotechnology completed an acquisition of Orthogonal Biologics and closed an $18 million Series B financing to build an integrated software-and-screening pre-clinical biologics discovery firm. The financing was led by a syndicate including OrbiMed Advisors, Trinity Ventures, Agent Capital and other investors, with Selecta Bioscience joining as a strategic investor; the acquisition brings Orthogonal’s deep mutational scanning protein engineering capabilities into Cyrus’s computational discovery platform.

ABIONYX Pharma completed a contribution in kind of 100% of the capital of IRIS Pharma Holding, issuing new ABIONYX shares at €3.60 per share to acquire the business. IRIS Pharma will become a subsidiary of ABIONYX while remaining operationally independent as a specialist CRO in ophthalmology, providing ABIONYX with ophthalmology R&D capabilities and a potential portfolio of biologic candidates.

National Resilience, Inc. (Resilience) has acquired SwiftScale Biologics, a San Leandro, California–based developer of cell-free protein synthesis (CFPS) technology. Resilience said it will integrate SwiftScale’s CFPS capabilities into its biomanufacturing platforms to accelerate production of complex biologics and next-generation therapies.

Blueprint Medicines has entered a definitive agreement to acquire privately held precision oncology company Lengo Therapeutics for $250 million in cash plus up to $215 million in regulatory- and sales-based milestones. The deal adds Lengo’s lead oral EGFR exon 20 insertion candidate LNG-451 and other preclinical precision oncology programs to Blueprint’s lung cancer portfolio, expanding its capability in brain-penetrant EGFR inhibitors.

Twist Bioscience entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Abveris (formerly AbX Biologics), an in vivo antibody discovery services company, for up to $190 million. The deal (approximately $150 million at closing in Twist common stock and up to $40 million contingent stock consideration plus limited cash) is intended to combine Abveris's mouse-based discovery platform with Twist's humanization and antibody engineering capabilities to broaden Twist's antibody discovery and biopharma services.

Novo Nordisk agreed to acquire Dicerna Pharmaceuticals for $38.25 per share, representing an enterprise equity value of approximately $3.3 billion, to expand its RNAi capabilities. The acquisition builds on a 2019 research collaboration and brings Dicerna's GalXC RNAi platform and pipeline into Novo Nordisk to accelerate development of RNAi therapeutics across cardiometabolic, liver and rare disease indications. The tender offer completed in December 2021 and Dicerna is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Novo Nordisk.

Kala Pharmaceuticals acquired all outstanding equity of Combangio, a private clinical‑stage developer of regenerative biologics for severe ocular surface diseases, adding the investigational product KPI-012 (formerly CMB-012) to Kala’s pipeline. The deal includes $5.0M cash up front, ~7.79M shares of Kala common stock, and up to $105M in contingent payments and tiered royalties; Combangio founders and executives received board/management roles at Kala.

Ampersand Capital Partners has completed a majority recapitalization of Leinco Technologies, a specialty manufacturer of life-science reagents and custom development services based near St. Louis, Missouri. The growth equity investment will fund expanded manufacturing capacity, broaden scientific capabilities and product offerings, and support Leinco's commercial and geographic expansion while leadership including founder Pat Leinert Sr. remain involved.

Transatlantic healthcare private equity firm ARCHIMED has purchased a majority stake in Monheim, Germany-based Cube (Cube Biotech), a specialist provider of high-purity, stable membrane proteins for drug discovery. ARCHIMED will support Cube's US market expansion and broaden its product and service offering organically and via acquisitions while Cube's founding management remain significant shareholders and continue to lead the business.

X-Chem, a GHO Capital-backed leader in DNA-encoded library (DEL) technology, has acquired AI drug-discovery specialist Glamorous AI and Budapest-based synthetic chemistry services provider ComInnex. The deals expand X-Chem’s machine-learning capabilities and synthetic chemistry capacity, broadening its global footprint and accelerating small-molecule discovery services for biopharma clients.

X-Chem, a leader in DNA-encoded library (DEL) technology, has acquired Glamorous AI, an AI-driven drug discovery software provider. The deal combines X-Chem's large DEL datasets with Glamorous AI's RosalindAI platform to accelerate early-stage small-molecule drug discovery and expand X-Chem's machine-learning capabilities.

Aceragen, Inc. acquired clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Arrevus, Inc., adding Arrevus' lead oral anti-infective candidate ARV-1801 (renamed ACG-721) and several preclinical programs to Aceragen's rare-disease pipeline. The deal brings additional clinical and regulatory capabilities to Aceragen and is expected to be accretive as the company advances registrational and Phase 2/3 studies in cystic fibrosis and other orphan indications.

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited has exercised its option to acquire GammaDelta Therapeutics Limited, obtaining the company's allogeneic Vδ1 γδ T cell therapy platforms and early-stage cell therapy programs. The acquisition, stemming from a multi-year collaboration begun in 2017, is for a pre-negotiated upfront payment plus potential milestone payments and is expected to close in Q1 of Takeda's fiscal 2022, subject to antitrust review.

ElevateBio acquired all of AgBiome Delta, LLC's shares of Life Edit Therapeutics, bringing Life Edit's RNA-guided nuclease and base editor technologies into ElevateBio's cell and gene therapy technology platform. The acquisition expands ElevateBio's genome engineering capabilities to support its in vivo gene therapy pipeline (initial focus on neurologic conditions) and to offer enhanced gene-editing tools and manufacturing access to industry partners.

3D Systems has agreed to acquire Houston-based biofabrication start-up Volumetric for $45 million at closing with up to $355 million in milestone-based earnouts tied to human-application development, creating a new 20,000 sq. ft. regenerative medicine facility in Houston. The acquisition brings Volumetric's light-based bioprinting platform and biomaterials into 3D Systems' life-sciences capabilities and supports an existing joint development program with United Therapeutics.

Cardurion Pharmaceuticals, a clinical‑stage biotechnology company focused on cardiovascular therapeutics, received a private investment of up to $300 million from Bain Capital Life Sciences and Bain Capital Private Equity to advance its PDE9 and CaMKII inhibitor programs and to scale the business. The funding will support a major Phase 2 heart‑failure trial, initiation of first‑in‑human studies, and company growth; Bain Capital will also join Cardurion’s board alongside existing investors Takeda Pharmaceuticals and Polaris Partners.

Swedish life sciences company Biotage AB has acquired UK-based oligonucleotide specialist ATDBio for approximately £45 million in cash and shares. The deal brings ATDBio’s complex DNA/RNA synthesis capabilities and its founders into the Biotage Group to accelerate capability expansion and scale molecular diagnostics, therapeutics and sequencing support services.

Big Cypress Acquisition Corp., a Nasdaq-listed special purpose acquisition company, received shareholder approval to complete a business combination with clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company SAB Biotherapeutics. Upon closing, the combined company will be named SAB Biotherapeutics, Inc. and its common stock and warrants are expected to trade on Nasdaq, providing SAB with public-market capital to advance its antibody immunotherapy platform and clinical programs.

Treadwell Therapeutics announced it has acquired TCRyption Inc., a TIO Bioventures–backed developer of a novel TCR-identification platform for T cell therapies, in a stock-swap transaction. The acquisition brings the TCRypt platform and a bank of TCR candidates into Treadwell's pre-clinical oncology pipeline to expand its cell-therapy capabilities, with initial TCR programs expected to enter the clinic in early 2023.

The Jackson Laboratory (JAX), a U.S.-based nonprofit biomedical research institution, has acquired Charles River Laboratories Japan's Research Models & Services (RMS) business as a wholly owned subsidiary. The Japan-based organization (renamed The Jackson Laboratory Japan) includes ~250 employees, three production sites in Atsugi, Hino and Tsukuba, and an administrative office in Yokohama.

ARCHIMED has acquired a majority stake in Liège-based Xpress Biologics and will finance a ten-fold expansion of the company's plasmid DNA production capacity with the implementation of GMP services. Founders Christian Rodriguez, Philippe Ledent and Marc Daukandt, together with public investor Noshaq, will reinvest proceeds; ARCHIMED is investing via its MED II fund to help internationalize distribution into the US and Asia‑Pacific.

Priority One Canine (P1K9) has acquired U.S.-based Bio Detection K9 and announced a joint venture with France-based biotechnology company Neovacs to advance canine-based pathogen detection, including COVID-19 screening. The deal combines P1K9’s global canine security platform with Bio Detection K9’s proprietary detection protocols and Neovacs’ biotech expertise to deploy COVID-detecting K9 assets for public health, agriculture and event security applications worldwide.

Merck has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Acceleron Pharma Inc. for $180 per share in cash, representing an approximate total equity value of $11.5 billion. The acquisition brings Acceleron's late-stage sotatercept program (for pulmonary arterial hypertension) and its REBLOZYL portfolio into Merck's cardiovascular pipeline, subject to tender offer completion and customary regulatory approvals.

SCHOTT MINIFAB, a subsidiary of SCHOTT, has agreed to acquire Applied Microarrays Inc. (AMI), a Tempe, Arizona–based developer and manufacturer of DNA and protein microarrays and biosensors. The deal expands SCHOTT's bioscience and microarray printing capabilities and increases its manufacturing footprint in the United States to better support diagnostics and point-of-care customers.

BICO has acquired the assets and operations of HUREL Corp., a US-based provider of 2D liver co-culture models and assay services, for approximately USD 2.5 million. The HUREL portfolio and team will be integrated into BICO subsidiary Visikol to expand the group's liver in vitro model and assay offerings for pharma, biotech and academic customers.

AbCellera Biologics Inc. acquired TetraGenetics, Inc. in an all-cash transaction to integrate TetraGenetics' recombinant transmembrane protein expression platform into AbCellera's antibody discovery technology stack. The acquisition expands AbCellera's ability to generate antibodies against difficult-to-drug ion channels, GPCRs and other transmembrane targets, and includes upfront and milestone-based payments.

Thompson Street Capital Partners (TSCP), a St. Louis-based private equity firm, has acquired Vector Laboratories, the Protein Detection business unit of Maravai (NASDAQ: MRVI). Vector Laboratories is a manufacturer of labeling and visual detection reagents used in tissue-based protein detection for academic and corporate research; TSCP said the deal expands its life sciences capabilities and positions Vector for organic and strategic growth.

Renovacor, an early‑stage biotechnology company developing AAV‑based gene therapies for BAG3‑associated cardiovascular and CNS diseases, closed a business combination with special purpose acquisition company Chardan Healthcare Acquisition 2 Corp. (CHAQ) and will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange as Renovacor, Inc., with approximately $95.1 million of gross proceeds (including a $30.0 million PIPE) to fund clinical development into 2023. The transaction preserves Renovacor’s existing management team and provides public-market access and capital to advance its lead program, REN‑001, toward IND submission and a Phase I/II trial.

Seneca Partners has invested £1.2 million into Cambridge-based biotech start-up SolasCure to support development of its wound‑care product Aurase. The funding (via Seneca EIS Portfolio Service and Seneca Growth Capital VCT) will help SolasCure progress Aurase into clinical trial stages.

HiberCell, a clinical-stage oncology company, acquired Genuity Science, a genomics and multi‑omic analytics company with an advanced AI/ML platform, to integrate next‑generation computational capabilities into its translational oncology efforts. The stock acquisition brings Genuity and its subsidiaries into HiberCell, provides approximately $100 million in cash and existing partnership earnouts, and is intended to accelerate HiberCell's clinical programs and expand its preclinical pipeline.

ProPhase Labs, through its newly formed subsidiary ProPhase Precision Medicine, completed the acquisition of Nebula Genomics, a privately owned whole‑genome sequencing and personal genomics company. The deal (approximately $14.6 million in a mix of cash and ProPhase common stock) will integrate Nebula’s whole genome sequencing capabilities and DTC platform into ProPhase’s CLIA-certified molecular testing laboratories to expand diagnostic and consumer genomics offerings.

Atlas Antibodies, majority owned by Patricia Industries, has agreed to acquire evitria, a Zurich-based specialist in transient recombinant antibody expression in CHO cells. Sellers include Afinum and co-investor SHS Capital; the deal is expected to close in Q3 2021 and is positioned as an add-on to build an antibody-focused platform under Patricia Industries.

Amgen agreed to acquire clinical-stage biotechnology company Teneobio for $900 million in upfront cash plus potential contingent milestone payments up to $1.6 billion. The acquisition adds Teneobio's heavy-chain antibody discovery platform, bispecific/multispecific antibody technologies and a Phase 1 T-cell engager (TNB-585), strengthening Amgen's antibody research capabilities and oncology pipeline.

Valo Health has acquired Courier Therapeutics, a biotechnology company founded at Washington University in St. Louis that developed a protein therapeutics platform and the tumor-targeting candidate OPL-0101. The acquisition extends Valo’s Opal Computational Platform into protein therapeutics and is expected to broaden Valo’s modalities and capabilities across oncology and other therapeutic areas; the deal includes an upfront payment and milestone-based consideration.

Kiromic Biopharma completed the acquisition of InSilico Solutions via a stock-swap, bringing an in‑house bioinformatics and AI team to support development of its outpatient allogeneic CAR‑T therapies for solid tumors. The deal transfers InSilico’s staff and intellectual assets to Kiromic and is intended to accelerate target/biomarker discovery, manufacturing and clinical development.

PerkinElmer, Inc. agreed to acquire BioLegend, a leading developer of antibodies and life-science reagents, for approximately $5.25 billion in cash and stock. The acquisition expands PerkinElmer's life-science franchise into high-growth areas such as biologics, cell and gene therapy, and proteogenomics, and is expected to be accretive to earnings.

Fortis Life Sciences completed its acquisition of nanoComposix, a San Diego–based nanomaterials company focused on assay development, diagnostics and drug-delivery applications. The deal (closed June 2021) brings nanoComposix into the Fortis Life Sciences platform to expand its life-science reagents and contract-manufacturing capabilities and create synergies across the portfolio.

Pacific Biosciences (PacBio) signed a definitive agreement to acquire San Diego-based Omniome for approximately $600 million in upfront consideration (9.4 million PacBio shares plus $300 million cash) plus up to $200 million in cash and stock tied to milestones, valuing the deal at about $800 million. The deal — supported by a concurrent $300 million PIPE financing — brings Omniome’s high-accuracy short-read Sequencing-by-Binding technology into PacBio’s portfolio of high-accuracy long-read SMRT sequencing systems to expand PacBio’s capabilities and address high-growth clinical markets such as oncology, transcriptomics and NIPT.

Genetic Technologies Limited (GENE/GTG) acquired the direct-to-consumer eCommerce business, brands and distribution rights of General Genetics Corporation trading as EasyDNA from BelHealth Investment Fund LP for US$4.0 million (cash, ADRs and escrow). The deal gives Genetic Technologies an established DTC genomics platform and distribution in ~40 countries (70+ websites) to accelerate its health & wellness and serious-disease test commercialisation and global expansion.

Eli Lilly and Company announced the acquisition of Protomer Technologies, a private biotechnology company based in Pasadena, California, to enhance Lilly's diabetes pipeline. The deal has potential value of over $1 billion contingent on development and commercial milestones; Lilly previously held a 14% stake and is acquiring the remaining shares to gain Protomer's glucose‑sensing insulin programs and protein‑engineering MEPS platform.

Nephros, Inc. (Nasdaq: NEPH) acquired substantially all of the assets of GenArraytion, Inc., a Rockville, Maryland-based developer of infectious disease PCR assays and multiplexing technology. The acquisition gives Nephros access to GenArraytion's MultiFLEX bioassays and other proprietary assays, which will be integrated into Nephros' Pathogen Detection Systems platform, and GenArraytion's CEO Dr. R. Paul Schaudies will partner with Nephros' pathogen detection leadership.