Deals
Lilly Paid $3.25B Upfront for Kelonia in $7B CAR-T Deal
Lilly paid $3.25 billion upfront for Kelonia Therapeutics, with milestone payments that could reach $7 billion total.
Masthead · Deals & M&A Writer
Diana Kowalski
San Francisco · Joined January 2026
Ex-Morgan Stanley healthcare banker. Tracks every pharma deal over $50M. Last year: 180+ deals, $290B combined. San Francisco.
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Deals
Lilly Paid $7B for Kelonia's Lentiviral In Vivo Platform
Lilly paid $7bn for Kelonia Therapeutics: $3.25bn upfront and up to $3.75bn in milestone payments tied to clinical, regulatory, and commercial success.
Deals
Lilly Cuts $7B Deal for Kelonia and Its iGPS Platform
Lilly paid $3.25 billion upfront for Kelonia Therapeutics, with total deal value reaching up to $7 billion in milestones.
Deals
Kelonia Sale Hands Venrock a 45-Fold Return on $20M
Venrock put $20 million into Kelonia Therapeutics.
Deals
Lilly Bets on Kelonia's In Vivo CAR-T
Lilly paid an undisclosed sum upfront for Kelonia Therapeutics on Monday, placing a large bet on in vivo CAR-T as its next platform priority.
Deals
Kailera Raises $625M in Record Biotech IPO on Nasdaq
Kailera Therapeutics raised $625 million Friday in a record-setting biotech IPO on the Nasdaq.
Deals
Kraken Paid $550M for Bitnomial's Triple CFTC License Stack
Kraken paid up to $550 million for Bitnomial, a derivatives firm, in a deal that closes by June.
Deals
UCB Paid $1.15B for Neurona's Single-Dose Epilepsy Cell Therapy
UCB paid up to $650m upfront, with up to $500m in future milestones, to buy Neurona Therapeutics in a deal valued at up to $1.15bn.
Deals
Bought Comerica. Now Fifth Third Converts 500,000 Customers by Labor Day
Fifth Third bought Comerica in February, folding in about $294 billion in assets and roughly 500,000 retail customers.
Deals
Raised $625M at $16 a Share, Kailera Tops Moderna's 2018 IPO Record
Kailera Therapeutics priced just under 40 million shares at $16 apiece Friday, pulling in $625 million on its Nasdaq debut under KLRA.
Deals
Topped $30B: Revolution Medicines Buyout Climbs on Cancer Win
Revolution Medicines had a rumored $30 billion buyout offer on the table in January.
Deals
Kailera Prices $625m IPO, One of the Largest Biotech Offerings Since Moderna 2018
Kailera Therapeutics priced its IPO at $625m, or $16 a share, on April 16 — at the top of its S-1 range and one of the largest biotech public offerings…
Deals
Priced at $16, Kailera Raises $625M in Largest Biotech IPO Since 2018
Kailera Therapeutics priced its IPO at $16 a share Friday, raising $625 million, the largest biotech public offering in recent memory, topping Moderna's…
Deals
Daiichi Sankyo Sold $1.55B Consumer Unit to Suntory
Daiichi Sankyo will sell its consumer health subsidiary to Suntory Holdings for 246.5 billion yen, about $1.55 billion, paid in tranches over three years.
Deals
Filed: Nir Zuk's Bid for $442M-Asset Liberty Bank
Nir Zuk, the Israeli billionaire who founded Palo Alto Networks, filed a Federal Reserve application Wednesday to acquire voting shares of DMG Bancshares…
Deals
Cleared $22B: Q1 2026 Obesity Deals Top 2025's Full-Year Total
Biopharma committed $22 billion to obesity and diabetes licensing deals in Q1 2026, clearing last year's full-year total of $20.3 billion with three…
Deals
Aligos Sells China HBV Rights to Amoytop in $445M Deal
Aligos Therapeutics sold the Greater China rights to pevifoscorvir sodium to Fujian-based Amoytop for up to $445 million: $25 million upfront and $420…
Deals
Revolution Doubles Offering to $2B at $142 After Daraxonrasib Phase 3 Win
Revolution Medicines is raising $2 billion in a stock offering priced at $142 per share, up from the $1 billion it announced Monday, hours after reporting…
Deals
Revolution Medicines Prices Record Raise, Biotech's Biggest Since Pandemic
Revolution Medicines just priced a public equity raise, the largest single biotech offering since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Deals
Sold for $1.55B: Daiichi Sankyo's OTC Unit Goes to Suntory
Daiichi Sankyo sold its consumer health unit to Suntory Holdings for 246.5 billion yen, roughly $1.55 billion, in a staged transfer that kicks off this June…
Deals
Biogen Paid $5.6B for Apellis; Filing Confirms Deal Terms
Biogen paid $5.6B for Apellis, and a new SEC filing confirmed the deal details CEO Chris Viehbacher has been engineering: a company that doesn't grow on…
Deals
Bain Built $300M Beeline Medicines on 5 BMS Autoimmune Programs
Bain Capital put $300 million into Beeline Medicines at launch, licensing five autoimmune programs from Bristol Myers Squibb to build its next specialty…
Deals
Alamar Biosciences Files $159M IPO on 196% Revenue Growth
Alamar Biosciences wants $159 million from public markets, pricing 9.4 million shares at $15 to $17 apiece for a Nasdaq listing under "ALMR.
Deals
Click Therapeutics Cut More Than a Quarter of Staff After Series D
Click Therapeutics raised Series D funding, then cut more than a quarter of its workforce shortly after.
Deals
AbbVie Bought Two NaV1.8 Pain Assets from Haisco for $745M
AbbVie bought ex-China rights to two NaV1.8 sodium channel pain inhibitors from Beijing-based Haisco Pharmaceutical for up to $745 million.
Deals
Kailera Files $528.5M Nasdaq IPO to Fund Four GLP-1 Obesity Drugs
Kailera filed for a $528.5 million Nasdaq IPO, pricing 33.33 million shares at $14 to $16 each.
Deals
Regeneron Paid $40M to Enter Radiopharma; Telix Scores Up to $4.3B
Regeneron put $40 million on the table Sunday to partner with Telix Pharmaceuticals, the Australian biotech with one of the more active radiopharmaceutical…
Deals
AbbVie Buys Into Pain With Up to $715M Haisco Deal
AbbVie is paying up to $715 million to get into the pain game, inking a licensing deal with China's Haisco Pharmaceutical Group that hands AbbVie rights to…
Deals
Counted $700M in Benko Losses, Julius Baer Now Counts CFO Days
Julius Baer has been counting losses for two years.
Deals
Blackstone Files $2B IPO for AI Data Center Buyer
Blackstone filed confidential IPO paperwork with U.S. regulators to raise $2 billion for a dedicated acquisition vehicle targeting data centers, Bloomberg…
Deals
Novo Loses GLP-1 Pioneer Lotte Bjerre Knudsen to Retirement
Novo Nordisk is losing a key obesity figure.
Deals
Shionogi Wins $119M BARDA Contract for Fetroja
Shionogi has been awarded a $119 million contract from BARDA for Fetroja, a direct government commitment to the drugmaker's drug.
Deals
Closed Above Target, Jeito Capital Fund II Hits €1.6B AUM
Jeito Capital closed Jeito II at more than €1bn, lifting the firm's total AUM to €1.6bn.
Deals
BARDA Cut $482m Shionogi Deal for US Antibiotic Capacity
BARDA paid $482m to get Fetroja made on US soil.
Deals
Paid $20M Upfront, Roche Extends C4T Molecular Glue Deal
Roche is paying $20 million upfront for access to two degrader-antibody conjugate (DAC) programs from C4 Therapeutics, with more than $1 billion in…
Deals
Polygon Targets $50M-$100M Equity Round as Token Sheds 90%
Polygon Labs seeks $50M-$100M in equity to build its Open Money Stack stablecoin platform, a bet on payments as its native token shed 90% of its value.
Deals
Steve Ubl Steps Down as PhRMA Chief Amid Drug Pricing Battle
PhRMA leader Steve Ubl plans to step down at a pivotal moment for pharma's most powerful DC trade group, Endpoints News reports.
Deals
Gilead Spends $14.77B on Three Deals, Then Hits Pause
Gilead bought Arcellx, Ouro, and Tubulis for $14.77B in under ten weeks. CFO says further big deals are unlikely this year, but the door stays open.
Deals
KreditBee Hits $1.5B Valuation on $280M Round, Joins Unicorn Club
KreditBee joins India's unicorn club as investors bet on the country's underserved lending market.
Deals
Merck Cut Terns Bid by $1B After Leukemia Data Missed
Merck cut its Terns offer from $7.7B to $6.7B after Phase 1 leukemia data disappointed. The rival bidder walked entirely.
Deals
Whoop Closes $575M Series G as Health Tech Q1 Doubles Down on AI
Whoop's $575M Series G tops a Q1 health tech funding wave built on AI clinical workflow bets, with no post-money valuation disclosed yet.
Deals
Eli Lilly Bets on Orexins — Same Playbook That Made Tirzepatide a Blockbuster
Eli Lilly acquires into the orexin drug class, betting the maturing CNS mechanism follows the same multi-indication arc as GLP-1.
Deals
Digital Health Posts $4B Q1 Record as 12 Deals Take 59%
Digital health hit $4B in Q1 2026, up $1B year-over-year, but 12 mega-deals claimed 59% of all capital as total deal count fell to 110.
Deals
Apnimed Locks $150M Credit Line for AD109 Sleep Apnea Launch
Apnimed secured up to $150M from HCRx to launch AD109, with only $50M unconditional and the rest tied to FDA approval and a sales milestone.
Deals
Gilead Pays $3.15B for Tubulis in Third ADC Bet of 2026
Gilead's $3.15B upfront buy of Tubulis adds a 59%-ORR NaPi2b ADC to its pipeline — its third acquisition of 2026, totaling over $12B spent.
Deals
Lilly Pays $7.8B for Centessa to Buy Into the Orexin Race
Lilly is paying $7.8B for Centessa — $38/share plus a $9 CVR — to grab cleminorexton, a Phase IIa orexin agonist for narcolepsy.
deals
Deals
Takeda Files WARN for 634 US Cuts, 247 of Them at Cambridge HQ
Takeda filed a WARN notice to cut 634 US jobs, with 247 hitting its Cambridge headquarters — the largest concentration in the restructuring.
Deals
Syneron Bio Closes $150M Series B for Peptides
Syneron Bio raised a $150M Series B for peptide development. GLP-1s proved the format can print billions. The program list is still a mystery.
Deals
Neurocrine Buys Soleno for $2.9B, Betting 15x Revenue on Rare Hunger Drug
Neurocrine is paying $2.9B at ~15x trailing revenue for Soleno's Vykat XR, the only approved drug for Prader-Willi hunger, in its biggest-ever deal.
Deals
Anthropic Drops $400M on Six-Person Drug Discovery Startup
Anthropic acquires six-person AI biotech Coefficient Bio for $400M in stock — $66M per employee for a company founded in 2025 with no public product.
Deals
Takeda Walks Away From $150M Denali Dementia Bet After 8 Years
Takeda returns frontotemporal dementia drug DNL593 to Denali after 8 years and $150M, citing strategy—not safety—days after Denali's FDA approval win.
Deals
Anthropic Pays $400M for a 10-Person Ghost Company
Anthropic is paying ~$400M for Coefficient Bio, a sub-10-person stealth startup. The price signals how expensive life sciences AI talent has become.
Deals
Stipple Bio Raises $100M to Pinpoint Cancer Drug Targets
Stipple Bio launches with $100M to identify precise targets on cancer proteins, betting the ADC industry's real problem is aim, not ammo.
Deals
Neurocrine Pays $2.9B for Soleno's Prader-Willi Drug
Neurocrine pays $53/share in cash for Soleno Therapeutics, acquiring Vykat XR, a profitable approved treatment for Prader-Willi syndrome.
Deals
Gilead Cuts 51 Foster City Jobs One Year After Same Layoff
Gilead cuts 51 Foster City jobs effective May 29, one year after the same HQ shed 149. The backdrop: ~$10B in acquisitions closed since February.
Deals
Syneron Bio Pulls $150M Series B Four Months After $100M Round
Syneron Bio raises $150M Series B, bringing total funding to $250M in four months, backed by AstraZeneca and Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth.
Deals
OpenEvidence Buys Tandem to Automate Prior Authorization
OpenEvidence acquires Tandem to add AI-driven prior authorization to its doctor-facing platform, threatening standalone PA automation vendors.
Deals
Lilly Pays $115M Upfront in Insilico AI Deal Worth Up to $2.75B
Eli Lilly paid $115M upfront for an AI collaboration with Insilico Medicine worth up to $2.75B, with milestone math that heavily favors Lilly.
Deals
Blackstone Raises New Fund as Two Pharma Giants Close March Megadeals
Two pharma giants closed megadeals in March while Blackstone raised a new fund — more dry powder chasing the same targets means multiples only go one way.
Deals
Biogen Drops $5.6B for Apellis at 140% Premium, Shares Fall
Biogen acquires Apellis for $5.6B at a near 140% premium, adding Syfovre and Empaveli to offset a fading MS franchise ahead of pharma's patent cliff.
