- Grants Astellas exclusive option to obtain worldwide license to develop and commercialize DAX-044, with Audax having the option to co-fund and co-promote DAX-044 in Australia and New Zealand - - Audax will fund and continue DAX-044 development into Phase 1 - - Total potential transaction value of up to US$1.34 billion,excluding royalties - Oct. 27, 2026 -- Astellas Pharma Inc. [TSE: 4503, President and CEO: Naoki Okamura, "Astellas"] and Audax Biosciences Pty Ltd ("Audax") today announced th

27 October 2026– Ferring Pharmaceuticals and Gameto today announced that they have signed an agreement for a global transaction under which Ferring would acquire Gameto. Completion remains subject to customary and other closing conditions. Until closing, the companies will continue to operate independently. The proposed transaction has a deal value of up to $1.3825 billion, subject to development, regulatory and commercial milestones. The transaction would bring together Gameto’s reproductive-h

South Korean biopharmaceutical company Celltrion has acquired exclusive global development and commercialisation rights to Kaigene’s investigational monoclonal antibody, KG013, in a deal worth up to Won769bn ($580m). The financial package includes an upfront payment alongside milestone payments tied to specific development, regulatory, and commercial targets. Royalties on net sales remain separate from the package. Kaigene also retains an option to co-market the candidate in South Korea under th

Gilead Sciences waded further into the immunology and inflammation (I&I) disease space on Thursday with the proposed purchase of PepStar Therapeutics' IL-23R inhibitor programme, which includes lead candidate HCXT-2001, in Phase I testing. The US drugmaker is splashing $1.28 billion in upfront cash to gain the asset, an oral macrocyclic peptide inhibitor of IL-23R with an extended half-life. The acquisition is expected to close this quarter. According to Gilead, IL-23R is a clinically validated

Eli Lilly has formed a partnership with Hong Kong's Metis TechBio worth up to $1.1 billion, gaining access to an AI drug delivery platform designed to improve therapeutic performance of drugs carried by lipid nanoparticles. The collaboration will center on Metis' ionizable lipid discovery and optimization platform called AiLNP, which the company touts as the “world's first and only de novo lipid generation algorithm,” relying on a large lipid library, end-to-end screening and a lipid language mo

Germany’s Merck KGaA has picked up Silence Therapeutics to the tune of $1.3 billion in the wake of the British biotech’s mid-stage success for its challenger to Takeda’s Mimrylo. The all-cash deal will see Darmstadt-based Merck pay $20 per American depositary share, with each ADS representing three ordinary shares of Silence. The biggest prize for Merck is divesiran, a short interfering RNA (siRNA) drug candidate designed to treat a rare blood cancer called polycythemia vera (PV). The cancer is

Just weeks after IntraBio secured a label expansion for its lead asset Aqneursa, Japanese drugmaker Shionogi is moving in to take the reins. Shionogi is handing over $2 billion for the Austin, Texas-based commercial biotech, in a deal that—in addition to Aqneursa—will grant access to IntraBio’s rare disease expertise and pipeline. The acquisition builds on Shionogi’s plans to diversify beyond its anti-infectious disease drug base and to beef up its budding rare disease unit, which was founded

TREMFYA maintained combined fistula remission through Week 48 across both maintenance dose regimens, including an increase from 28% at Week 24 to 35% at Week 48 in the 100 mg dose group These findings build on the Phase 3 clinical program, demonstrating efficacy in a dedicated, randomized, placebo-controlled trial in patients with this debilitating and challenging manifestation of Crohn's disease Oct. 19, 2026 -- Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) today announced one-year results from the Phase 3 FU

The Gilead Sciences deal, which include $135 million in upfront and near-term payments, marks a critical platform validation for Vir Biotechnology as investors await an upcoming readout in solid tumors. Gilead Sciences has helped bolster the appeal of Vir Biotechnology’s T cell engager technology with a new licensing deal that includes $135 million in upfront and near-term payments—including an equity stake—and could tack on an additional $1.74 billion in milestones. The upfront payment includ

Alaunos Therapeutics has bought Velaris Therapeutics, adding four biologics candidates discovered by Paragon Labs targeting pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and related cardiopulmonary diseases. The transaction coincides with Paragon building out its own leadership bench with former executives from Apogee Therapeutics, another company — recently acquired by AbbVie for $10.9 billion — that had been built around Paragon-discovered assets. The Velaris buyout was accompanied by an oversubscribe