M&A analysis: signs of life emerge

After a dearth of big acquisitions, the second quarter has seen a few large deals, in oncology and beyond, that have raised hopes of an M&A comeback. Sanofi’s $9.1bn acquisition of Blueprint Medicines, for the approved drug Ayvakit, is one such deal helping to fuel optimism.

There is at least one reason for biotech to be optimistic: big pharma still seems more interested in bolt-ons versus megadeals, and that suits small and mid-cap players. However, many recent takeovers have been opportunistic, with struggling biotechs being bought for a bargain price.

One example is BioNTech’s all-stock swoop for CureVac, ostensibly for the latter’s mRNA-based cancer immunotherapy projects – but perhaps this was really just driven by concerns over intellectual property.

Meanwhile, the serial acquirer Concentra Biosciences, which is backed by Tang Capital Partners, has recently scooped up several groups that had seemingly run out of options, including Elevation Oncology. That company had just canned its lead project, the anti-Claudin18.2 ADC EO-3021, and pivoted to a preclinical asset.

Concentra’s latest purchase, announced in early July so not included in this analysis, concerned IGM Biosciences, once an oncology player.

Notable oncology M&A in Q2 2025

Note: excludes SPACs & reverse mergers. Source: OncologyPipeline.

Other low-ball deals included the takeover of the troubled Oncternal by the unknown biotech Ho’ola Therapeutics for just $3m up front, and Xoma Royalty’s move on Turnstone, until recently a TIL player. 

The latter is interesting in that it appears to signal a diversification for Xoma, which has been focused on collecting royalties since exiting drug development in 2017. Perhaps the group hopes to license out Turnstone’s technology, or is merely interested in its cash balance.

Cause for optimism?

Perhaps more promising, in terms of the biotech ecosystem, is the Blueprint takeout, as well as AbbVie’s $2.1bn acquisition of Capstan, and Merck KGaA’s $3.9bn SpringWorks buy.

AbbVie’s move is another endorsement of in vivo Car-T, following AstraZeneca’s $425m purchase of EsoBiotec. Capstan’s lead project is in autoimmune disease, although the group has carried out preclinical work in oncology.

Meanwhile, Merck paid a hefty amount for SpringWorks, but the latter might have been pushing for more, with a long-rumoured deal taking three months to be announced amid Merck’s insistence that it would be disciplined on M&A.

Financial discipline seems to be a watchword for potential acquirers of late. The last truly big oncology deals were AbbVie’s $10.1bn purchase of ImmunGen, and Pfizer’s $43bn acquisition of Seagen – both of which were struck in 2023.

Perhaps one sign of big pharma’s reluctance to spend big bucks was seen in a recent tie-up by Revolution Medicines, not with a larger drug developer but with Royalty Pharma – suggesting that the group hadn’t been able to drum up M&A interest at the price it wanted.

With the fashion for bolt-ons continuing, there's no sign of a return to big M&A just yet.