Biotechnology Acquisitions in 2023

Cyclo Therapeutics completed an all-stock merger with Applied Molecular Transport (AMT), with AMT shareholders receiving 0.1331 shares of Cyclo Therapeutics for each AMT share (approximately 5,822,720 Cyclo shares, or ~18% of the combined company). The combined, Nasdaq-listed company will operate as Cyclo Therapeutics, focus on advancing the Phase 3 TransportNPC study of Trappsol Cyclo for Niemann-Pick Disease Type C1, be led by Cyclo's existing management and headquartered in Gainesville, Florida.

Eli Lilly and Company completed the acquisition of POINT Biopharma Global Inc. after a tender offer at $12.50 per share in cash, followed by a second-step merger and delisting of POINT's common stock. The transaction brings POINT's radioligand therapy pipeline and radiopharmaceutical capabilities into Lilly's oncology research and development efforts.

Bristol Myers Squibb will acquire radiopharmaceutical developer RayzeBio in an all-cash tender offer of $62.50 per share, valuing RayzeBio at approximately $4.1 billion (about $3.6 billion net of cash). The acquisition brings RayzeBio's actinium-based radiopharmaceutical platform, a Phase 3 lead program (RYZ101) and in-house radiopharmaceutical manufacturing capabilities into Bristol Myers Squibb's oncology franchise to accelerate development and commercialization of targeted radiopharmaceutical therapeutics.

Bristol Myers Squibb has agreed to acquire Karuna Therapeutics for $330 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $14.0 billion (about $12.7 billion net of cash). The acquisition adds Karuna's lead neuroscience asset KarXT and its early-stage pipeline to BMS's neuroscience portfolio, accelerating capability and late-stage product expansion in psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders.

Concentra Biosciences, a vehicle controlled by Tang Capital Partners, has entered into a definitive merger agreement to acquire clinical-stage biotech Theseus Pharmaceuticals for $3.90–$4.05 per share in cash plus a contingent value right tied to future program licensing/disposition proceeds. The transaction will be effected by a tender offer and is expected to close in February 2024, subject to customary conditions and the availability of required cash at closing.

Certara, Inc. has acquired Applied BioMath to expand its biosimulation capabilities and establish the life sciences industry's largest quantitative systems pharmacology (QSP) center of excellence. The acquisition combines Certara's biosimulation and AI portfolios with Applied BioMath's proprietary QSP platform and modeling expertise to industrialize QSP and accelerate drug development.

Pfizer completed the acquisition of Seagen, acquiring all outstanding Seagen common stock for $229 per share in cash in a transaction valued at approximately $43 billion. The deal adds Seagen's ADC technology, four in-line oncology medicines and a large early-stage pipeline to Pfizer's oncology portfolio, expanding Pfizer's capabilities and doubling its oncology pipeline.

Windjammer Capital Investors completed a control acquisition of Bio X Cell, a producer of monoclonal antibodies for pre-clinical research, in a transaction that closed November 6, 2023. Windjammer said it will partner with management to accelerate organic growth and pursue a thesis-driven acquisition strategy to expand Bio X Cell's addressable market.

AstraZeneca has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Icosavax, a Seattle-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, in a cash tender offer valuing the deal at approximately $0.8bn upfront and up to $1.1bn including contingent payments. The acquisition brings Icosavax's virus‑like particle (VLP) platform and Phase III‑ready combination RSV/hMPV vaccine candidate IVX‑A12 into AstraZeneca's Vaccines & Immune Therapies late‑stage pipeline to strengthen respiratory vaccine capabilities for older adults and vulnerable populations.

Aditxt, Inc. has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Evofem Biosciences in a stock-and-debt assumption transaction that will make Evofem a wholly owned subsidiary of Aditxt pending closing (anticipated H1 2024). The deal transfers approximately $100 million of consideration via stock issuance and assumption of certain senior indebtedness, and positions Aditxt to establish a women's health mission and scale Evofem’s hormone-free contraceptive Phexxi and other women's health products globally.

Invaio Sciences has acquired Peptyde Bio, a Danforth Technology Company spinout that discovers and designs antimicrobial peptides for crop protection. The deal brings Peptyde Bio’s peptide discovery platform and IP into Invaio’s AI-enabled discovery engine and biological delivery systems to accelerate nature-positive crop protection solutions.

AbbVie Inc. acquired Cerevel Therapeutics for $45.00 per share, valuing Cerevel at approximately $8.7 billion, to bolster AbbVie's neuroscience pipeline. The deal adds Cerevel's clinical-stage assets—including emraclidine, tavapadon, CVL-354 and darigabat—and is intended to expand AbbVie's capabilities and commercial potential in psychiatric and neurological disorders.

Branded Legacy, Inc. (OTC: BLEG) completed the acquisition of MariJ Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a Clearwater, Florida-based certified-organic CBD extraction and production company, on December 4, 2023. The deal transfers MariJ's mobile CO2 extraction units, licensed vehicles, production lab, IP (including a patent), organic certifications, customer and operational databases, and licenses to Branded Legacy in exchange for preferred series stock and cash.

AbbVie has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire ImmunoGen for $31.26 per share in cash, valuing the company at approximately $10.1 billion. The deal gives AbbVie commercial rights to ELAHERE (mirvetuximab soravtansine-gynx) and ImmunoGen's ADC pipeline, expanding AbbVie's oncology capabilities; the transaction is expected to close in mid-2024 subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals.

Hovione has acquired ExtremoChem, a developer and commercializer of synthetic sugars for stabilizing biopharmaceuticals, to add functional materials to its CDMO platform. Financial terms were not disclosed; Hovione said the acquisition enhances its formulation, particle engineering and stabilization capabilities and will support wider market adoption of ExtremoChem’s sugars.

Merck (MSD) will acquire Caraway Therapeutics, a Cambridge, Massachusetts–based preclinical biopharmaceutical company, for up to $610 million in potential consideration, including an undisclosed upfront payment and contingent milestone payments. The acquisition is intended to strengthen Merck’s research pipeline and capabilities in developing small-molecule treatments for genetically defined neurodegenerative and rare diseases.

Astellas Pharma, through its U.S. subsidiary Astellas US Holding, agreed to acquire privately held biopharmaceutical company Propella Therapeutics for approximately US$175 million. The acquisition gives Astellas ownership of PRL-02, a next-generation long-acting abiraterone prodrug for prostate cancer currently in Phase 1, and is expected to close within Astellas' fiscal year 2023 (ending March 31, 2024).

Ajinomoto Co., Inc. will acquire Forge Biologics in an all-cash transaction valued at $620 million, expanding Ajinomoto's gene therapy and plasmid/AAV manufacturing capabilities. Forge, a Columbus, Ohio–based viral vector and plasmid CDMO with a 200,000 sq ft cGMP facility and ~300+ employees, will become a consolidated subsidiary to accelerate global gene and cell therapy manufacturing capacity.

Medix Biochemica has acquired 100% of ViroStat LLC, a US-based manufacturer of infectious disease antibodies and antigens, expanding Medix's IVD raw materials portfolio and scientific capabilities. ViroStat will continue operating in Westbrook, Maine, and its employees and leadership (including President Dr. Douglas McAllister and General Manager Duncan McAllister) will join Medix Biochemica.

Genezen closed an $18.5 million follow-on growth equity financing led by Ampersand Capital Partners to accelerate expansion of its viral vector development and GMP manufacturing capabilities. The capital will support build-out and technology investments at Genezen's facilities (including the Fishers, Indiana GMP viral vector site) to scale retroviral, lentiviral and AAV vector production and support additional customer programs.

NorthEdge has completed a multi‑million‑pound growth investment in Antibody Analytics (now trading as RoukenBio), a Scotland‑based pre‑clinical immunology CRO. The capital will fund site expansion, upgraded facilities and job creation as NorthEdge (represented on the board by Liam May) backs CEO Andy Upsall and the leadership team to scale the business internationally.

Aileron Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALRN) completed a stock-for-stock acquisition of Lung Therapeutics, Inc., bringing the clinical-stage pulmonary and fibrosis-focused pipeline (including lead candidate LTI-03) into Aileron's portfolio. Immediately after the acquisition Aileron arranged a private placement led by Bios Partners (with participation from Nantahala Capital and others) to raise approximately $18 million to fund ongoing development, including a Phase 1b trial of LTI-03.

QHP Capital has acquired Applied StemCell, a Milpitas, California–based cell and gene therapy CRO/CDMO that provides iPSC and TARGATT gene‑editing platforms for biopharma and research clients. QHP said the acquisition will provide strategic capital and operating support to accelerate ASC's commercial expansion and scale its manufacturing and service capabilities for the cell and gene therapy market.

Amgen completed the acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics plc for $116.50 per share in cash, valuing the transaction at approximately $27.8 billion. The deal expands Amgen's inflammation and rare-disease portfolio by adding Horizon's medicines (including TEPEZZA, KRYSTEXXA and UPLIZNA) and strengthens Amgen's biologics R&D, manufacturing and global commercial capabilities.

AbbVie has exercised its exclusive right and completed the acquisition of Mitokinin, a discovery-stage biotechnology company developing a selective PINK1 activator for Parkinson's disease. AbbVie paid $110 million at closing with up to $545 million in additional milestone payments plus tiered royalties contingent on development and commercial milestones.

Kyowa Kirin Co., Ltd. agreed to acquire Orchard Therapeutics plc for $16.00 per ADS in cash plus a $1.00 contingent value right (CVR), representing a potential total equity value of approximately $477.6 million. The acquisition gives Kyowa Kirin a leading HSC gene therapy platform and commercial asset Libmeldy, accelerating development and commercialization of Orchard's rare-disease gene therapies.

Graf Acquisition Corp. IV completed its previously announced business combination with NKGen Biotech, Inc., resulting in NKGen becoming a wholly‑owned subsidiary and the combined company listing on Nasdaq under the ticker NKGN. The transaction provides NKGen with access to public markets and capital to accelerate development and commercialization of its autologous, allogeneic and CAR‑NK cell therapy programs.

SK pharmteco is acquiring a controlling interest in cell and gene therapy CDMO Center for Breakthrough Medicines (CBM), integrating CBM with its Paris-based Yposkesi to create a global cell & gene therapy business unit. The deal expands SK pharmteco's technical capabilities, production capacity, and U.S./European footprint in advanced biologics manufacturing.

Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., through its wholly owned U.S. subsidiary Otsuka America, Inc., agreed to acquire Mindset Pharma Inc. in an all-cash statutory plan of arrangement valued at approximately CAD 80 million. The acquisition adds Mindset’s next-generation psychedelic and non-psychedelic drug discovery assets and synthesis capabilities to Otsuka’s psychiatry and neurology pipeline.

Lobe Sciences Ltd. signed an amendment to its share purchase agreement to acquire a 100% interest in Altemia & Company, LLC, including assets, know‑how, IP and commercial inventory related to Altemia, a medical food for sickle cell disease. The amended terms provide for the return and milestone-based reissuance of 76,000,000 Lobe common shares to the Altemia selling members upon achievement of specified development, delivery, commercial sale and tech-transfer milestones.

Cybin Inc. has agreed to acquire all issued and outstanding securities of U.K.-based Small Pharma in an all‑share plan of arrangement. The transaction combines Cybin's and Small Pharma's clinical-stage psychedelic therapeutic programs and IP into a single, publicly traded clinical‑stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Toronto.

Danaher Corporation agreed to acquire Abcam plc for $24.00 per share, representing an enterprise value of approximately $5.7 billion including assumed indebtedness. Abcam, headquartered in Cambridge, United Kingdom, will operate as a standalone company within Danaher's Life Sciences segment; the transaction is expected to close in mid-2024 and is subject to customary approvals.

Transnetyx, a Memphis-based provider of outsourced genetic services, has acquired Laragen, a sequencing and genetic services company in Culver City, California. The deal adds Sanger and next-generation sequencing (NGS) capabilities to Transnetyx's service portfolio to broaden its offerings for academic, government, and pharmaceutical research customers.

Bruker Corporation agreed to acquire PhenomeX Inc. in an all-cash transaction valued at roughly $108 million (purchase price $1.00 per share). PhenomeX — formed from the combination of Berkeley Lights and IsoPlexis and provider of single-cell biology instruments, software and reagents — will be folded into a Bruker subsidiary, marking Bruker’s entry into single-cell biology research tools and complementing its spatial biology offerings.

Pacific Biosciences (PacBio) has entered into an agreement to acquire Apton Biosystems, a Pleasanton, California-based developer of high-throughput short-read sequencing instrumentation, to accelerate development of a next-generation, high-throughput short-read sequencer. The all-stock deal provides approximately $85 million upfront (≈6.3M shares) plus up to $25 million in additional consideration contingent on achieving $50 million in revenue, valuing the transaction at up to ~$110 million.

UK-based integrated drug discovery CRO Sygnature Discovery has acquired Montreal-headquartered NuChem Sciences, one of North America's largest discovery contract research organisations. The deal expands Sygnature's global footprint and capabilities in medicinal chemistry, DMPK, structural biology and in vitro/in vivo pharmacology, strengthening its position in the North American market.

Biogen Inc. agreed to acquire Reata Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for $172.50 per share in cash, representing an enterprise value of approximately $7.3 billion. The acquisition adds Reata's FDA-approved SKYCLARYS (omaveloxolone) for Friedreich's ataxia to Biogen's rare disease portfolio and is expected to be significantly accretive to Biogen's Non-GAAP diluted EPS beginning in 2025; the transaction was anticipated to close in Q4 2023.

Solar Biotech Inc., a Norton, Virginia-based synthetic biology and bioprocessing company, has acquired Noblegen, an advanced digital biology and precision fermentation company based in Peterborough, Ontario. Noblegen will operate as Solar Biotech Canada and serve as the group's food-grade-certified biomanufacturing and R&D hub, expanding Solar Biotech's upstream/downstream capabilities and on‑the‑ground capacity in Canada.

Novartis has acquired DTx Pharma, a San Diego–based preclinical biotechnology company, for an upfront payment of USD 500 million plus contingent milestone payments. The deal brings DTx's FALCON siRNA delivery platform and lead program DTx-1252 (orphan-designated for CMT1A) into Novartis to strengthen its neuroscience pipeline and xRNA capabilities.

Eli Lilly has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Versanis Bio, a private clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing bimagrumab for cardiometabolic diseases and obesity. The deal could deliver up to $1.925 billion to Versanis shareholders and is intended to combine Versanis’ activin/myostatin biology expertise with Lilly’s incretin portfolio to advance combination treatments for obesity and related cardiometabolic conditions.

Biosynth, a Switzerland-based supplier of critical raw materials and manufacturing services, acquired Berlin-based celares, a developer and manufacturer of bioconjugates, activated PEGs and polymer-based drug delivery excipients. The acquisition strengthens Biosynth's capabilities in conjugate vaccines and bioconjugate drugs and adds GMP bioconjugation and PEGylation manufacturing in Berlin to its service offering.

Biocomposites has taken a minority equity stake in Renovos Biologics to support development and pre-market approval of the RENOVITE nanoclay therapeutic delivery platform. The investment will give Renovos access to Biocomposites' development expertise and global distribution network; Biocomposites CEO Michael Harris will join Renovos' board.

Eli Lilly agreed to acquire Sigilon Therapeutics in a cash tender offer valuing the biotech at roughly $34.6 million up front plus contingent value rights that could increase total consideration to about $309.6 million. The acquisition brings Sigilon's encapsulated cell therapy platform (including SIG-002 for type 1 diabetes) into Lilly's diabetes and cell-therapy R&D efforts to accelerate development and potential commercialization.

Intus Biosciences (Intus Bio) has acquired Pattern Genomics, integrating Pattern's advanced genomic analysis and machine learning tools into Intus Bio's Titan-1 microbiome assay and analysis platform. The acquisition, supported by investor Connecticut Innovations, brings Pattern Genomics' founder Daniel Fasulo into Intus Bio as Head of IT and Bioinformatics to accelerate capability expansion and biomarker discovery across healthcare and pharmaceutical end markets.

Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB (Sobi) completed the acquisition of CTI BioPharma Corp. through a cash tender offer and subsequent merger, paying USD 9.10 per share for a transaction valued at up to USD 1.7 billion. CTI, a Seattle-based biopharmaceutical company with the FDA-approved product VONJO and ~144 employees, becomes an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Sobi and will be delisted from NASDAQ.

Aeglea BioTherapeutics completed a stock-for-stock acquisition of Spyre Therapeutics, a privately held biotechnology company advancing antibody therapeutics for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Concurrent with the acquisition Aeglea announced a $210 million PIPE led by Fairmount Funds to advance Spyre’s pipeline (lead programs SPY001 and SPY002) into clinical studies and fund operations into 2026.

Solve Therapeutics, an oncology-focused biopharmaceutical company, has acquired Cereius, a Duke University spin-out that developed a site-specific radiolabeling chemistry platform for targeted radiodiagnostics and radiotherapeutics. The deal transfers Cereius’ platform and team into SolveTx to support development of targeted radionuclide therapeutics and companion diagnostics for oncology; Cereius shareholders will receive an undisclosed upfront payment plus potential milestone and royalty payments.

Eli Lilly agreed to acquire DICE Therapeutics for $48 per share (approximately $2.4 billion) in an all-cash tender offer to bolster Lilly's immunology pipeline and leverage DICE's DELSCAPE small-molecule discovery platform and oral IL-17 inhibitor programs. The transaction, approved by both boards, is expected to close in Q3 2023 subject to customary conditions and antitrust clearance.

Vector Laboratories has acquired Quanta BioDesign, the inventor of discrete polyethylene glycol (dPEG) technology, expanding Vector's bioconjugation linkers, dyes and payload delivery capabilities. The Plain City, Ohio-based company's dPEG reagents will broaden Vector's product portfolio and support life science and biopharma customers in therapeutic, diagnostic and research applications.

Merck has agreed to acquire clinical-stage biotechnology company Prometheus Biosciences for $200.00 per share in cash, representing an approximate total equity value of $10.8 billion. The acquisition strengthens Merck's immunology pipeline by adding Prometheus' precision-medicine platform and lead candidate PRA023 (MK-7240) for inflammatory bowel disease and other immune-mediated conditions.