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This Week

Feb 9, 2024

SPECIAL REPORT—The top 10 biopharma M&A deals of 2023


Sanofi guarantees employees one year of salary and support after cancer diagnosis


NanoString files for bankruptcy, explores potential sale amid patent battle with 10x Genomics


Takeda drops cancer candidates, axing immunocytokine and CAR-Ts amid shifting treatment landscape


Eli Lilly mounts clinical and commercial case for tirzepatide as Mounjaro, Zepbound chalk up major gains


Novo antes up $16.5B to poach CDMO giant Catalent amid Wegovy surge


After Incyte's commercial buy, Novartis shells out €2.7B for cancer specialist MorphoSys

 

Featured

The top 10 biopharma M&A deals of 2023

Last year, the value of the top 10 M&A deals in the biopharma industry came to $115.8 billion, outranking prior sums from 2022, 2021 and 2020, which came to $65 billion, $53 billion and $97 billion, respectively. This report breaks down the industry's 10 largest M&A agreements of the year.
 

Top Stories

Sanofi guarantees employees one year of salary and support after cancer diagnosis

Sanofi is stepping up support for employees with cancer and other critical illnesses, agreeing to secure their jobs, salaries and benefits for at least 12 months after diagnosis regardless of their location or role.

NanoString files for bankruptcy, explores potential sale amid patent battle with 10x Genomics

After losing a patent infringement lawsuit last year that ended with an order to pay out $31 million in damages, leaving it all but hanging by a thread, NanoString is plotting a new way forward.

Takeda drops cancer candidates, axing immunocytokine and CAR-Ts amid shifting treatment landscape

Takeda’s vision of becoming a leader in oncology ran into more trouble Thursday, when the drugmaker axed a midphase immunocytokine and three early-stage CAR-T cell therapy prospects from its R&D pipeline.

Eli Lilly mounts clinical and commercial case for tirzepatide as Mounjaro, Zepbound chalk up major gains

Locked in a heated battle with Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide franchise, Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide is beginning to come into its own—both with regards to sales and amid attempts to show the dual GIP/GLP-1 agonist can strike out beyond diabetes and obesity.

Novo antes up $16.5B to poach CDMO giant Catalent amid Wegovy surge

Late last month, Novo Holdings’ CEO Kasim Kutay hinted that the fund manager was eyeing buyouts as an outlet for its trove of Wegovy cash. Now, a major deal has materialized.

After Incyte's commercial buy, Novartis shells out €2.7B for cancer specialist MorphoSys

Rumblings of a potential bidding war over cancer specialist MorphoSys have subsided as quickly as they arose after Novartis descended on the German biotech Monday with billions of dollars in cash. The move comes less than 24 hours after rumors of the M&A imbroglio surfaced in Reuters.

Amgen's obesity drug takes the weight off and may keep it off, too, early data suggest

Amgen's obesity drug MariTide stimulates weight loss in animals and people without major side effects, new data from the company show. And unlike its competitors, it may only need to be taken once a month and perhaps not for life. 

Novartis CEO's 2023 pay rises 21% as Roche's helmsman nets $11M in his first year

After leading Swiss drug giants Novartis and Roche through pivotal years, their CEOs have each netted multimillion-dollar compensation packages for 2023.

FDA counts another 111 deaths in 7K new Philips recall reports

That brings the total number of medical device reports received since April 2021 to more than 116,000, with 561 reported deaths.

Amid GLP-1 supply constraints, Lilly to prep for oral obesity market 'at risk'

With supply strains not letting up in the growing injectable obesity med market, Lilly looks to carve out manufacturing early for its oral candidate.
 
Fierce podcasts

Don’t miss an episode

'The Top Line': Navigating the future of medical AI

This week on “The Top Line,” Fierce’s Conor Hale interviews Peter Shen, the North American head of digital health at Siemens Healthineers, to explore what developers and regulators can do to ensure transparency in medical AI. He also dives into how the field could potentially benefit from a 21st-century update to the Hippocratic Oath. 
 

Resources

Whitepaper

Share of Influence is the New Share of Voice

Supercharge Your Field Deployment in 2024 with Engaging, Clinically-Oriented and Influential FRMs, MSLs, NAMs and CNEs.
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The Oncology Market – 2023 Year in Review

This paper offers a detailed review of key events and developments in the oncology market during 2023.  It’s a helpful “status report” that informs how the market is likely to evolve in 2024. It covers, vaccines, radiopharmaceuticals, ADCs, CAR-Ts, bi-specifics, & more.

Whitepaper

Developing and Manufacturing Drugs with HPAPIs

Discover how to effectively classify highly potent APIs and the steps required to develop containment protocols and manufacturing processes that are both safe and efficient.
 

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