SHERIDAN, WYOMING – July 1, 2025 – A late surge of acquisitions in June has reenergized pharmaceutical M&A activity, with six major deals announced that propelled first-half 2025 totals to 32 transactions across the industry. This burst of dealmaking, highlighted by BioNTech’s $1.25 billion acquisition of CureVac and Eli Lilly’s $1.3 billion buyout of Verve Therapeutics, has analysts optimistic that the sector’s cautious stance may finally be easing.
Resilient M&A Amid Regulatory Uncertainty
The first half of 2025 was marked by significant headwinds for dealmakers, including political and regulatory turbulence. The deal flow in the first half was overall “relatively steady but cautious,” PwC said in the firm’s mid-year outlook, published June 18. There were about 32 deals in the biopharma space recorded for the first half, according to data from S&P Capital IQ and analyzed by BioSpace.
Companies in the market for M&A battled significant headwinds in the first half, mainly from political and regulatory drama. Upheaval at the FDA and related concerns about drug approval delays, the return of Most Favored Nation drug pricing and other factors “weighed on dealmakers’ confidence,” according to PwC.
“These shifts have further complicated revenue forecasting and valuation modeling, leading many companies to more carefully reevaluate pipeline decisions and strategic objectives before signing new deals,” the firm wrote.
Policy Challenges and Market Dynamics
There were also, of course, the on again, off again tariff threats from the president. Import taxes specific to the pharma industry still have not been levied despite numerous threats and the promise of policy to come. Companies announced multibillion-dollar commitments to onshoring U.S. manufacturing while continuing to tap innovation from China, where more than one-third of molecules have been licensed by U.S. pharmas.
All of these policy challenges were evident in the proxy filing for the Verve-Lilly deal, released last week. Verve said that the departure of Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research Director Peter Marks was a distinct moment in the negotiations with Lilly, as were the tariffs and drug pricing proposals.
Keeping Deals in Mid-Range with Notable Exceptions
In the first half of 2025, companies kept to deals in the range of $1 billion to $5 billion, with a notable exception: Johnson & Johnson started off the year with the $14.7 billion acquisition of Intra-Cellular Therapies.
The policy uncertainty has led pharmas to hold off on larger dealmaking, which “weakens the M&A life-raft that proved so vital to a suffering biotech industry in 2023 and 2024,” Evaluate wrote in its 2025 World Preview report. The analysis firm believes that higher-value deals will return, however.
PwC agrees that future deal prospects are robust thanks to scientific progress, the number of anticipated new drug approvals and the amount of cash that potential buyers have on the balance sheet. “But dealmakers face a multifaceted regulatory and geopolitical set of challenges which require pharmaceutical and life sciences companies to demonstrate significant agility, comprehensive due diligence and strategic foresight in managing their dealmaking activities and overall corporate strategies,” the firm wrote.
Key Buyers and Therapeutic Trends
Keeping the deals smaller, a few Big Pharmas like Lilly, Sanofi and Novartis have headed back to the dealmakers table multiple times already this year. Lilly led with three transactions, followed by Novartis and Sanofi each with two.
But these major companies weren’t the most prolific. That honor goes to biotech grim reaper Concentra Biosciences, the Tang Capital holding company that buys out struggling companies to close them down. Kevin Tang’s company bought four companies: Acelyrin, Kronos, Elevation Oncology and Allakos, spending $463.1 million total, according to S&P Capital IQ.
As for therapeutic trends, oncology came out the clear winner so far this year, with eight deals being struck in this area, according to Truist Securities. Last year, deals had been more spread out across therapeutic areas.
Tumultuous Stories End
A defining feature of dealmaking in the first half was the close of a number of tumultuous stories.
The BioNTech-CureVac deal saw two German rivals that had long battled for supremacy of the mRNA field come together. BioNTech very obviously took the market lead and, in turn, became a household name, thanks to its Pfizer-partnered COVID-19 vaccine. Meanwhile, CureVac still does not have a marketed product. The companies battled each other in the courts over mRNA patents and that litigation is set to sunset with the deal.
The buyout of Sage Therapeutics marked the end of an era for another troubled company that had been searching for a life line. The company agreed to be acquired by Supernus Pharmaceuticals for up to $795 million, which analysts called a “good end” to the biotech’s story. Sage had balked at an unsolicited offer from partner Biogen earlier this year. Biogen offered about $470 million and never returned with a revised proposal.
Another notable acquisition was the private equity buyout of bluebird bio, the once darling of the gene therapy industry now valued at just under $50 million. The biotech had been struggling to break even but failed to extend its cash runway. With time running out, bluebird agreed to be taken private by Carlyle and SK Capital.
For more insights on the evolving pharma M&A landscape, visit fairsonline.org.