The Westin St. Francis lobby buzzed with its familiar January energy, a peculiar blend of jet lag, ambition, and the faint desperation of biotech CEOs clutching coffee cups like lifelines. This year’s JP Morgan Healthcare Conference arrived with a question hanging in the San Francisco fog: after years of what one executive called “nuclear winter,” were the capital markets finally thawing?
GSK has agreed to acquire California-based RAPT Therapeutics in a deal valued at $2.2 billion (€ 1.88 billion), expanding its respiratory, immunology and inflammation portfolio with a late-stage food allergy candidate. The transaction gives GSK global rights to ozureprubart, a long-acting anti-IgE monoclonal antibody now in phase IIb clinical development.
While much of the biotech industry is focused on meetings and dealmaking at the J.P. Morgan (JPM) Healthcare Conference, a rumor has cut through the JPM noise. The possibility of Eli Lilly making a move on Abivax is back on the table, with a price tag that would imply a valuation close to twice the French company’s current market capitalisation at €8.4 billion ($9.8 billion).
The acquisition of Oxford-based Dark Blue Therapeutics by US biotechnology company Amgen Inc. has produced a German beneficiary: Hamburg-based Evotec SE. Through an early collaboration with the Oxford scientists, Evotec secured an equity stake and will now participate in the proceeds of the transaction.
Amgen has agreed to acquire Dark Blue Therapeutics in a deal valued at up to $840 million, as the biopharmaceutical company continues to build out its early-stage oncology pipeline. The specific breakdown of the upfront payment alongside development and regulatory milestones was not disclosed in the press release.
Roche has signed a definitive merger agreement to acquire 89bio and its Phase III candidate pegozafermin, an FGF21 analogue for the treatment of moderate to severe metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH). The deal is expected to close in Q4 2025.
From Brisbane to London to Paris: Australian vaccine innovation sparks US$1.15 billion deal with french Sanofi with an additional US$450 million tied to clinical milestones and underscoring a major commitment to next-generation respiratory vaccines.
The planned US$10 billion acquisition of UK-based Verona Pharma by US pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. underscores several key dynamics reshaping the global biotech industry. Not only does the deal reflect Merck’s strategic push to diversify in anticipation of the looming patent expiry of its blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda, but it also highlights the growing appeal of European biotech for US investors.
Austrian Apeiron Biologics goes to Ligand Pharmaceuticals for US$100m.
Merger within Ghent, Belgium: Anacura acquires OHMX.bio (both residing in neighborhood), adding multi-omics for drug discovery and diagnostics to its services.
Evotec SE
Henk Vrieselaar - stock.adobe.com 
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