Deal-Making Trends

The operating environment for medical technology companies becomes more complex, competitive and costly every year. There is no expectation that 2022 will buck that trend, even as the medtech sector prepares for a third year of working under conditions shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dozens of health care-focused special purpose acquisition corporations have gone public during the past two years but many biopharma firms that have merged with SPACs have not performed well to date, raising the question of how long the SPAC boom will last.

Six $1bn+ alliances were penned in October. Topping the list was a potential $3.6bn deal between Poseida Therapeutics and Takeda to utilize Poseida's genetic engineering platforms for the research and development of up to eight gene therapies. The collaboration will focus on non-viral in vivo gene therapy programs, including Poseida's preclinical hemophilia A program P-FVIII-101. Poseida will lead research activities up to candidate selection, after which Takeda will assume responsibility for further exclusive global development and commercialization.

Sandoz CEO Richard Saynor says the generics and biosimilars giant’s focus and strategy remain “unchanged” in the wake of a long-awaited announcement by parent company Novartis that it is exploring its options for the Sandoz business.

In Vivo's Deal-Making column is a survey of recent health care transactions listed by relevant industry segment – In Vitro Diagnostics, Medical Devices and Pharmaceuticals – and then categorized by type – Acquisition, Alliance, or Financing. This month’s column covers deals announced in October 2021. Data provided by Biomedtracker. 

The biopharma market has been highly active throughout the COVID-19 pandemic with a substantial focus on strategic alliances between 2020-H1 2021. Partnership deals present exciting liquidity and risk mitigation opportunities for early-stage companies. Small molecules still comprise the largest segment of partnered drugs, but alliances for other modalities are on the rise.

During Q3, biopharma merger and acquisition value reached $48.6bn and drew in $43bn in potential deal value (PDV) from alliances. Device company M&A values reached $7.1bn, while in vitro diagnostic firms and research tools players completed M&A activity that totaled $6.7bn.

For the third quarter of 2021, biopharmas brought in an aggregate $17.4bn in financing and device company fundraising totaled $3.4bn; while in vitro diagnostic firms and research tools players raised $2.5bn.

Three $1bn+ alliances were penned in September. Topping the list was a potential $3.25bn deal between Adaptimmune Therapeutics and Roche's Genentech for the development and commercialization of allogeneic T-cell therapies in multiple oncology indications. Adaptimmune will be responsible for developing clinical candidates using its induced pluripotent stem cell-derived allogeneic platform to produce T-cells. Genentech will be responsible for the input TCRs and subsequent clinical development and commercialization. Adaptimmune has the right to opt in to a 50/50 US profit/cost share on off-the-shelf products.

In Vivo's Deal-Making column is a survey of recent health care transactions listed by relevant industry segment – In Vitro Diagnostics, Medical Devices and Pharmaceuticals – and then categorized by type – Acquisition, Alliance, or Financing. This month’s column covers deals announced in September 2021. Data provided by Biomedtracker. 

Two $2bn+ alliances were penned in August. Topping the list was a multi-target deal between Shape Therapeutics and Roche that could exceed $3bn. Through the partnership, ShapeTX will apply its proprietary RNA editing platform RNAfix and potentially leverage its AAVid technology platform for next-generation tissue-specific adeno-associated viruses for the development of gene therapy for certain targets in the areas of Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and rare diseases. Roche is responsible for the development and worldwide commercialization of any potential products resulting from the collaboration. In the top August M&A by deal value, Sanofi entered into a definitive agreement to acquire all outstanding shares of public messenger RNA therapeutics company Translate Bio for $38.00 per share in cash (a 20% premium to Translate's 10-day pre-announcement market average), which represents a total equity value of approximately $3.2bn. Founded in 2011, Translate Bio is developing a new class of medicines to treat diseases caused by protein or gene dysfunction, or to prevent infectious diseases by generating protective immunity. The company is primarily focused on applying its technology to treat pulmonary diseases with a lead pulmonary candidate being evaluated as an inhaled treatment for cystic fibrosis in a Phase I/II clinical trial. Its MRT platform may be applied to various classes of treatments, such as therapeutic antibodies or vaccines in areas such as oncology. Financing reached $4.4bn in biopharma, $1.5bn in device, and $256m in diagnostics.

In Vivo's Deal-Making column is a survey of recent health care transactions listed by relevant industry segment – In Vitro Diagnostics, Medical Devices and Pharmaceuticals – and then categorized by type – Acquisition, Alliance, or Financing. This month’s column covers deals announced in August 2021. Data provided by Biomedtracker.