With only weeks to go in 2022, the three major pharmas each had inked between 16 and 20 deals. Meanwhile, Pfizer has been less busy with 12 deals, but those include M&A totaling $18.2bn.

Plus deals involving Shionogi/ Grünenthal, CR Biopharma/ImmVira, Elevation Oncology/CSPC, Everest Medicines/TTY Biopharm and Dr. Reddy’s/Slayback

During Q2, biopharma merger and acquisition value reached $25.4bn and drew in $27.3bn in potential deal value from alliances. Device company M&A values reached $2.7bn, while in vitro diagnostic firms and research tools players completed M&A activity that totaled $534.3m.

Following rapid R&D growth in the area, China now has roughly 40 drug candidates targeting Claudin 18.2 across various modalities including monoclonal antibodies, antibody-drug conjugates and bispecific antibodies, with a number of contenders now striking international licensing-out deals in a bid to get ahead of rivals.