Biopharma financing reached $14.6 billion in the third quarter, a 15% increase over Q2, while merger and acquisitions, at $7.7 billion (the lowest quarter of the year so far), showed a sharp decline. Alliance value reached $20.3 billion, far exceeding the $13.8 billion from Q2.

In a $663 million alliance, Takeda and Molecular Templates will co-develop CD38-targeted engineered toxin bodies for multiple sclerosis and other diseases.  Medtronic paid $1.3 billion to buy the rest of Israeli device maker Mazor Robotics. Biopharma financing was up from the previous month, thanks to a strong showing of FOPOs.

The approval of first-generation checkpoint inhibitors, Merck’s Keytruda and Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Opdivo in the second half of 2014, catalyzed a wave of deal-making, not only around other checkpoint inhibitors, but also for molecules and technologies that could offer synergistic benefits when used in combination with these drugs. 

There is a unique phenomenon being realized in immuno-oncology deal-making compared with other segments in the life sciences sector – an apparent uncoupling between risk and return on invested capital, as early assets provide similar liquidity to more mature assets.

Derived from Strategic Transactions, Informa’s premium source for tracking life sciences deal activity, the 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 2018. 

This month a handful of biosimilars of the world’s top-selling drug, Humira (adalimumab), are due to launch in Europe. They will not topple the $18 billion behemoth. But they will do some damage, as Europe’s cash-strapped payers ready themselves to embrace these cheaper lookalikes.