Pharmaceuticals & Biopharmaceuticals

MASON, Ohio -- September 01, 2026 -- Prasco, LLC has acquired a 130,000-plus square foot distribution facility in Carey, Ohio, expanding the pharmaceutical commercialization company's automation, cold-chain and secure storage capacity beyond its existing Mason, Ohio operations. The deal, announced Aug. 31, 2026, adds a second Ohio campus for the company, which works with more than 65 brand partners and supplies medications to over 70,000 pharmacies nationwide. Prasco specializes in Authorized Generics and end-to-end commercialization services for global drug brands.

The Carey site sits inside what Prasco describes as the Midwest pharmaceutical and logistics corridor, giving the company direct highway access to CDMOs, national distribution centers and major health systems. Prasco said the location strengthens its footprint in Ohio, a state it identified as one of the most active life sciences markets in the country.

CARY, N.C. -- September 01, 2026 -- Veloxis Pharmaceuticals dosed the first participant on Aug. 31, 2026, in its Phase 2 RENGEVITY-201 trial testing pegrizeprument, an investigational immunosuppressive drug, against tacrolimus in kidney transplant recipients. The Cary, North Carolina-based company, a unit of Asahi Kasei Corporation, will enroll up to 120 de novo kidney transplant patients across multiple sites in the randomized, partially blinded study registered as NCT07290777. Patients will receive one of two pegrizeprument doses or tacrolimus, each layered on top of rATG, corticosteroids and mycophenolate maintenance therapy.

INDIANAPOLIS and CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Aug. 31, 2026 -- Eli Lilly and Company agreed to pay up to $2.875 billion in cash to acquire Merida Biosciences, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotechnology company developing antibody-degrading therapies for autoimmune and allergic diseases. The figure includes an upfront payment plus contingent milestone payments under a definitive agreement announced by both companies. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026.

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. -- September 01, 2026 -- IDEAYA Biosciences said its FDA Type C meeting on IDE849, a DLL3-targeting antibody drug conjugate, produced agreement on a Phase 3 registrational trial design for extensive stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC). The Nasdaq-listed company (IDYA) plans to enroll roughly 400 patients who have already received tarlatamab, randomizing them 1:1 between IDE849 monotherapy and an investigator's choice control arm of topotecan and amrubicin. IDEAYA is targeting trial initiation by year-end 2026.

SHERIDAN, WYOMING -- June 14, 2026 -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has accepted Roche's supplemental Biologics License Application for Tecentriq and Tecentriq Hybreza in combination with chemotherapy as an adjuvant treatment for stage III dMMR/MSI-H colon cancer following surgery. The FDA has granted Priority Review and is expected to issue a decision by June 14, 2026. The filing is supported by Phase III ATOMIC study data showing a 50% reduction in the risk of disease recurrence or death compared to chemotherapy alone, results published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

SHERIDAN, WYOMING - December 04, 2025 - Life sciences dealmaking is regaining momentum after a period of macroeconomic caution, but new research from West Monroe shows that transaction volume alone will not determine who comes out ahead. Instead, success in the next wave of M&A will hinge on execution speed, AI and digital maturity, and the ability to integrate people and cultures without losing focus on the deal thesis.

Dealmaking Rebounds, but the Rules Have Changed

West Monroe's report, The Next Wave of Life Sciences M&A: Navigating Policy, Power, and Progress, combines practitioner insight with a survey of 250 private equity firms and strategic acquirers in life sciences. The findings point to a clear rebound in activity: 68% of respondents expect more acquisitions in the next two years, while only 7% plan no deals at all.