Biopharma merger and acquisition activity in 2024 totaled $79.4 billion, representing approximately half of the previous year's value, according to industry data. However, when excluding four mega-deals from 2023, including Pfizer's $43 billion acquisition of Seagen, the numbers from both years become more comparable, with deal volume actually showing a slight increase.
The year's largest transaction was Vertex Pharmaceuticals' $4.9 billion acquisition of Alpine Immune Sciences, completed in May 2024. Under the agreement, Alpine shareholders received $65 per share in cash, bringing two Phase II assets into Vertex's pipeline: Povetacicept (ALPN-303) for IgA nephropathy and Acazicolcept (ALPN-101) for systemic lupus erythematosus.
Top-Tier Acquisitions Drive Strategic Portfolio Expansion
Gilead Sciences secured the second-largest deal with its $4.3 billion acquisition of CymaBay, purchasing all shares at $32.50 per share. The transaction expanded Gilead's liver disease portfolio by adding Seladelpar, a potential treatment for primary biliary cholangitis and pruritus.
Eli Lilly completed the third-largest acquisition, purchasing Morphic Holding for $3.2 billion at $57 per share. This deal strengthened Lilly's immunology portfolio with oral integrin therapies, including MORF-057, an α4β7 integrin inhibitor in Phase II trials for ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, along with multiple preclinical candidates targeting autoimmune diseases, pulmonary hypertension, fibrotic diseases, and cancer.
Oncology Dominates Deal Activity
Oncology maintained its position as the most active therapeutic area, accounting for more than a third of all 2024 biopharma transactions in both number and total value. The approximately $90 billion worth of cancer-focused licensing and M&A transactions represented a roughly 50% drop from the prior year, but cancer remained the dominant dealmaking category.
Notable oncology acquisitions included Novartis' $2.9 billion purchase of MorphoSys, which added the approved B-lymphocyte antigen CD19 inhibitor Monjuvi (tafasitamab) for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. AstraZeneca acquired Fusion Pharmaceuticals for $2.4 billion, bringing radioconjugate candidates including FPI-2265, currently in Phase II studies for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.
Shift Toward Multi-Indication Therapies
Cancer dealmakers' focus has shifted toward candidates and modalities with the potential to address a range of tumor types, rather than pursuing drugs suited to ever-narrower, genetically defined mutations. The goal is to find pan-cancer blockbusters similar to Keytruda (pembrolizumab), Merck's $25 billion PD-1 inhibitor.
"Small indications in targeted oncology haven't delivered commercially," noted Sofinnova Investments' general partner Maha Katabi during an Endpoints event at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in January 2025. "That drove away investment."
Popular Modalities Drive Deal Activity
Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), bi- or multi-specific antibodies, and radioligand-based therapies (RLTs) emerged as popular hunting grounds for dealmakers. Around half of all 2024's cancer-focused licensing and M&A deals involved antibody-based drugs, immunotherapies, or RLTs.
Johnson & Johnson paid $2 billion for Ambrx Biopharma in January, strengthening its oncology portfolio with preclinical and clinical ADC programs, including ARX517 for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, ARX788 for HER2+ breast cancer, and ARX305 for renal cell carcinoma.
Genmab's $1.8 billion cash acquisition of ProfoundBio added rinatabart sesutecan (Rina-S), an ADC targeting folate receptor alpha (FRα), which is in Phase II development for ovarian and other FRα-expressing solid tumors.
Financing Shows Strong Growth
While M&A activity declined, financing in biopharma was on the upswing, with $88.6 billion raised—a 19% increase in value and a 13% rise in deal count over 2023. This growth in financing activity provided a counterbalance to the reduced M&A volumes.
Market Dynamics and Future Outlook
Overall, 2024's transactions were smaller and made at earlier stages than those in the prior year, as buyers digested large deals and the supply of late-stage and marketed assets dwindled. The largest oncology licensing deal was Merck & Co.'s transaction for global rights to LaNova Medicines' VEGF-PD-1 bi-specific antibody, a Phase I asset that commanded $588 million upfront and up to $2.7 billion in milestones.
Despite regulatory challenges and increasing pressure from the Inflation Reduction Act, dealmaking activity demonstrated resilience, with companies continuing to pursue strategic acquisitions to strengthen their pipelines and expand therapeutic capabilities across multiple indication areas.
