Deal-Making Trends

Acquisitions of early-stage assets, biotech platforms and capabilities like AI are the way to faster growth for pharma companies, as Accenture’s Petra Jantzer told In Vivo. However, changing the focus of M&A away from conventional late-stage assets requires significant shifts in corporate and R&D culture.

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 July 2022. Data provided by Biomedtracker.

EY’s John Babitt provided a mid-year 2022 update on medtech investment trends, and the outlook for the industry going into 2023 in this commentary for In Vivo.

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.

During Q2, biopharmas brought in an aggregate $12.5bn in financing and device company fundraising totaled $3.7bn; while in vitro diagnostic firms and research tools players raised $720m.

Six $1B+ alliances were penned in June. Topping the list was a potential $4.26M deal between Immatics and Bristol Myers Squibb for the development of multiple allogeneic off-the-shelf TCR-T and/or CAR-T programs. The companies seek to develop two BMS-owned programs and both firms will have an option to develop up to four additional programs each. The programs will utilize Immatics’ ACTallo proprietary allogeneic gamma delta T cell-derived adoptive cell therapy platform. BMS contributes its suite of next-generation technologies as well as its oncology drug development expertise. Bristol Myers Squibb was also involved in the top June M&A by deal value. The company entered into an agreement to acquire Turning Point Therapeutics in an all-cash transaction with an equity value of $4.1B. Founded in 2013 as TP Therapeutics, Turning Point has advanced a pipeline of investigational medicines designed to target the most common mutations associated with oncogenesis. Its lead asset, repotrectinib, is a next-generation, potential best-in-class tyrosine kinase inhibitor targeting the ROS1 and NTRK oncogenic drivers of non-small cell lung cancer and other advanced solid tumors. Repotrectinib has been granted three Breakthrough Therapy designations from the US FDA. BMS expects the therapy to be approved in H2 2023 and become a new standard of care for patients with ROS1-positive NSCLC in the first-line setting. Turning Point also has several other clinical-stage oncology candidates in addition to multiple discovery programs. Financing reached $5.2bn in biopharma, $498m in device, and $311m 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 June 2022. Data provided by Biomedtracker. 

Publisher’s Spotlight: Citeline, the publisher of In Vivo, is to merge with fellow pharmaceutical solutions provider Norstella.

In Vivo spoke with two company creators working in the biotech industry about their strategies for seeking new science and their funding philosophy when building the biotechs of tomorrow.

Per Vegard Nerseth is at the helm of CMR Surgical and hopes to transform surgery for good through the widespread introduction of surgical robotics.

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 May 2022. Data provided by Biomedtracker. 

In the top May alliance by deal value, Amphista Therapeutics and Bristol Myers Squibb aim to discover and develop targeted small-molecule protein degraders by leveraging Amphista's proprietary Eclipsys platform. BMS gets exclusive global rights to resulting products. Amphista will receive a $30M upfront payment, up to $1.25B in performance-based milestone payments, payment for a limited expansion of the collaboration, as well as royalties on global net sales.