Biopharma dealmaking in 2025 has generated some excitement, this is largely down to a string of notable mergers and acquisitions (M&As) that have been announced. Here we present the year’s highest-value biopharma deals of the year so far.
According to DealForma, the first six months of 2025 saw over 280 M&As—the highest number since 2020. The year began with the highest value M&A, Johnson and Johnson’s $14.6 billion takeover of Intra-Cellular Therapies and its lead asset Caplyta, an oral once-daily pill for the treatment of schizophrenia and depression (Table 1). Large M&A’s followed with Merck & Co’s $10 billion acquisition of Verona Pharma and Eli Lilly’s purchase of Scorpion Therapeutics, hopefully a promising signal for further M&A activity. Licensing deals have also been plentiful, with a noticable increase in upfront payments (Table 2). The highest-value R&D licensing deal this year was GSK’s pact with China's Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals to develop a series of drugs including Hengrui's HRS-982 indicated for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. This deal reflects a much-publicized recent trend, that big pharma is in-licensing more from China. Approximately 38% of big pharma deals and 28% of their upfront payments were made with Chinese biopharma companies this year.
Table 1 | Top 10 biopharma mergers and acquisitions ranked by total deal value in 2025
Seller; buyer | Date | Upfront cash and equity | Total deal value | Deal summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Intra-Cellular Therapies; Johnson & Johnson | January 2025 | $14,600 million | $14,600 million | Johnson & Johnson is acquiring Intra-Cellular Therapies. Intra-Cellular’s assets include Caplyta for schizophrenia and more, phase 2 lenrispodun for Parkinson’s disease and heart failure, lumateperone deuterated for anxiety and psychosis, ITI-1020 for cancer and ITI-333 for pain. |
Verona Pharma; Merck & Co | July 2025 | $10,000 million | $10,000 million | Merck is acquiring Verona Pharma and its lead asset Ohtuvayre (ensifentrine), a selective dual inhibitor of phosphodiesterase 3 and 4 (PDE3 and PDE4), for COPD in adults. |
Blueprint Medicines; Sanofi | June 2025 | $9,100 million | $9,500 million | Sanofi is acquiring Blueprint Medicines and its assets including ayvakit for gastrointestinal stromal tumor, phase 3 elenestinib for systemic mastocytosis, and phase 2 BLU-808 for urticaria. |
Endo International; Mallinckrodt | March 2025 | $80 million | $6,700 million | Mallinckrodt is acquiring Endo in a stock and cash deal. Endo’s assets include 27 approved products including Aveed for hypogonadism, Frova for migraine, and Nascobal for anemia. |
SpringWorks Therapeutics; Merck KGaA | April 2025 | $3,500 million | $3,500 million | Merck KGaA is acquiring SpringWorks Therapeutics. SpringWorks’s lead assets include approved Ogsiveo (nirogacestat) for adult desmoid tumors, which is also being studied in phase 2 trials for pediatric desmoid tumors, and Gomekli (mirdametinib) for plexiform neurofibroma. |
Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation; Bain Capital | February 2025 | $3,300 million | $3,300 million | Bain Capital is acquiring Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma and its assets; Uplizna for neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder, Zynlonta for R/R Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, Canalia for diabetes, Orkedia for secondary hyperparathyroidism and Invokana for diabetic nephropathies. |
Anthos Therapeutics; Novartis | February 2025 | $925 million | $3,075 million | Novartis is acquiring Anthos Therapeutics and its phase 3 asset abelacimab, a mAb targeting the FXI inhibition pathway for treating atrial fibrillation and venous thromboembolism and in phase 2 for stroke and thrombosis. Anthos licensed abelacimab from Novartis in 2019. |
Scorpion Therapeutics; Eli Lilly and Co. | January 2025 | $2,500 million | $2,500 million | Eli Lilly is acquiring Scorpion Therapeutics including its phase 1/2, once daily oral, PI3Kα inhibitor program, STX-478 for breast cancer and other advanced solid tumors. The acquisition strengthens Lilly’s breast cancer expertise and only includes the PI3Kα inhibitor program. |
Capstan Therapeutic; AbbVie | June 2025 | $2,100 million | $2,100 million | AbbVie is acquiring Capstan. Capstan’s assets include phase 1 CPTX-2309, an in vivo tLNP anti-CD19 CAR-T therapy for the treatment of B cell-mediated autoimmune diseases, CAR-T therapy CPTX-2506, and its targeted lipid nanoparticle platform, designed to deliver RNA. |
Regulus Therapeutics; Novartis | April 2025 | $800 million | $1,700 million | Novartis is acquiring Regulus Therapeutics along with its phase 1b farabursen for the treatment of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease. The deal also includes other assets and research programs for nephrology and central nervous system diseases. |
Table 2 | Top 10 biopharma R&D licensing partnerships ranked by total deal value in 2025
Out-licensor; in-licensee | Date | Upfront payment | Total deal value | Deal summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals; GSK | July 2025 | $500 million | $12,500 million | Hengrui Pharma granted GSK exclusive, worldwide (excluding mainland China, Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, and Taiwan) rights to develop and commercialize HRS-9821, a PDE3/4 inhibitor currently in clinical development for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). GSK may develop HRS-9821 as a convenient dry-powder inhaler. Additionally, Hengrui will develop 11 more early-stage programs through phase 1. |
BioNTech SE; Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) | June 2025 | $1,500 million | $11,100 million | BioNTech granted BMS exclusive, worldwide rights to develop and commercialize BNT-327, a bispecific antibody targeting PD-L1 and VEGF-A, for the treatment of multiple solid tumors. BNT-327 is currently being evaluated and planned for more than 20 studies in cancer, including global phase 3 registrational trials for small cell and non-small cell lung cancer, with plans to initiate a phase 3 trial in triple-negative breast cancer by the end of 2025. BioNTech acquired the asset through its acquisition of Biotheus. BioNTech will supply the drug for the ongoing study. |
3SBio; Pfizer | May 2025 | $1,350 million | $6,300 million | Shenyang Sunshine Pharmaceutical and 3S Guojian Pharmaceutical (Shanghai), a wholly owned subsidiary of 3SBio, granted Pfizer exclusive, worldwide (excluding China) rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialize its SSGJ-707, a bispecific antibody targeting PD-1 and VEGF for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), metastatic colorectal cancer, and gynecological tumors. Pfizer has the option to commercialize SSGJ-707 in China and manufacture the drug substance for SSGJ-707 in Sanford, North Carolina, and the drug product in McPherson, Kansas. 3SBio will begin the first phase 3 clinical trial in China in 2025. |
CSPC Pharmaceutical Group; AstraZeneca | June 2025 | $110 million | $5,330 million | AstraZeneca signed a research deal with CSPC Pharmaceuticals to develop multiple oral candidates, including a preclinical oral small molecule for immunological diseases and multiple other chronic diseases. CSPC will conduct the research in Shijiazhuang City and will utilize its AI-driven, dual-engine, efficient drug discovery platform. AstraZeneca will have the exclusive option to license the program. |
Zealand Pharma; Roche | March 2025 | $1,650 million | $5,250 million | Zealand Pharma granted Roche exclusive, worldwide rights to co-develop and co-commercialize petrelintide, an amylin analog for obesity treatment, both as a standalone therapy and in combination with Roche’s dual GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist, CT-388. The partnership strengthens Roche’s cardiovascular, renal, and metabolic (CVRM) pipeline by integrating petrelintide with its pharmaceutical and diagnostics portfolio. |
Harbour BioMed (HBM); AstraZeneca | March 2025 | $280 million | $4,680 million | Harbour BioMed signed a research partnership with AstraZeneca to develop antibodies using Harbour BioMed’s Harbour Mice fully human antibody technology for the treatment of immunology, cancer, and other diseases. AstraZeneca has a worldwide option to develop and commercialize two preclinical immunology antibodies and will nominate more targets. Additionally, both companies will have the option to add additional targets and extend the terms of the agreement for a further five years. Harbour BioMed will establish a center in Beijing, China to be co-located with AstraZeneca. |
Orna Therapeutics; Vertex Pharmaceutical; ReNAgade Therapeutics | January 2025 | $65 million | $4,350 million | Orna (through its wholly owned subsidiary ReNAgade) granted Vertex rights to develop and commercialize multiple undisclosed gene-editing therapies for the treatment of Sickle cell disease (SCD) and transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia (TDT) for three years using Orna’s lipid nanoparticle (LNP) delivery solutions to enhance gene therapies for targeting hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). Vertex has the option to extend the partnership and add up to 10 additional targets. |
RemeGen; Vor Bio | June 2025 | $125 million | $4,125 million | RemeGen granted Vor Bio exclusive, worldwide (excluding China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan) rights to develop and commercialize telitacicept, a dual-target fusion protein BlyS (also known as BAFF) and APRIL for the treatment of generalized myasthenia gravis. Telitacicept was approved in China for generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and a worldwide phase 3 clinical trial in gMG is ongoing. |
Syneron Bio; AstraZeneca | March 2025 | $75 million | $3,475 million | Syneron Bio granted AstraZeneca rights to develop and commercialize macrocyclic peptides using Syneron Bio’s Synova platform for the treatment of chronic diseases including rare, autoimmune, and metabolic diseases. |
ABL Bio; GSK | April 2025 | $50 million | $2,724 million | ABL Bio granted GSK exclusive, worldwide rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialize antibodies, polynucleotides, or oligonucleotides, such as siRNA and ASOs, for treating neurologic disease. The partnership will use ABL’s Grabody-B, a blood–brain barrier (BBB) shuttle platform and know-how. |
