Daniel Neumeier: Biopharma acquisitions H1/24
Daniel Neumeier, Life Sciences Specialist at L.E.K. Consulting, shared on LinkedIn:
“Biopharma acquisitions H1/24
Number of deals and cumulative deal volume: 26 deals*, at least $34bn
Top 5 deals by volume:
· Alpine Immune Sciences – Vertex: $4.9bn (ALPN-303: pot. best-in-class dual BAFF/APRIL antagonist for IgAN; Ph 3 in H2/24)
· CymaBay – Gilead: $4.3bn (seladelpar: pot. best-in-disease PPARd agonist for PBC; anticipated FDA approval in Q3/24)
· Morphosys – Novartis: €2.7bn (pelabresib: BET inhibitor for MF; reg. filing in H2/24; tulmimetostat: dual inhibitor of EZH2/1 for solid tumors/lymphomas; in Ph 1/2)
· Deciphera Pharmaceuticals – Ono Pharmaceutical: $2.4bn (QINLOCK; widely approved for 4L GIST)
· Fusion Pharmaceuticals – AstraZeneca: $2bn + $3 CVR (FPI-2265: actinium-based radioconjugate targeting PSMA for mCRPC; in Ph 2)
Therapeutic focus areas of most active buyers:
· Novartis (4 deals): oncology (MF, solid tumors), autoimmune/inflammatory diseases (celiac disease, eosinophilic esophagitis)
· J&J (3 deals): inflammatory diseases (atopic dermatitis, asthma), oncology (ADC for mCRPC)
· Merck (3 deals): oncology (SCLC, neuroendocrine tumors, ADC platform), ophthalmology (DME, NVAMD)
· AstraZeneca (2 deals): oncology (mCRPC), endocrine disease (hypoparathyroidism)
· AbbVie (2 deals): autoimmune/inflammatory diseases (IBD, UC)
Premiums
· Highest: c.160% (Landos Biopharma – AbbVie; first-in-class Ph2 asset for UC)
· Average: 84% (excludes Inhibrix deal)
· Companies commanding above average premiums had assets that were (i) in Ph 1/2 or Ph 2, (ii) targeting oncology (ADC, radioconjugate, hard to treat tumors) or autoimmune/inflammatory indication
Advisors
Most frequent sell side financial advisors by # of deals (aggregate count based on lead / co-advisor status):
· Centerview Partners: 16 deals / c.62% of total deal count
· Lazard / Goldman Sachs / BofA: 3 deals / c.12% each
· Morgan Stanley: 2 deals / c.8%
Most frequent sell side legal advisors by # of deals:
· Goodwin Procter: 8 deals / c.31%
· Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom: 4 deals / c.15%
· Cooley: 3 deals / c.12%
· Fenwick & West / DLA Piper: 2 deals /c.8% each
Most frequent buy side financial advisors by # of deals (limited data):
· Lazard / Goldman Sachs / BofA: 2 deals / c.8% each
Most frequent buy side legal advisors by # of deals:
· Covington & Burling: 4 deals / c.15%
· Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer: 3 deals / c.12%
· Davis Polk & Wardwell / Cleary Gottlieb Stehen & Hamilton: 2 deals / c.8% each
Acquired companies, by geographic origin
· 17xU.S. (65%), 7xEurope (27%; 2xDE; 1xCH, NL, UK, FR, SE each), 1xCA, 1xIL
Acquired U.S. companies, by area
· Bay area (5)
· Boston (4)
· San Diego (3)
· U.S. other (3)
· Seattle (2)
* deal volume >$100m and/or big biotech/pharma involvement”
Source: Daniel Neumeier/LinkedIn
