Licensing analysis: big deals bolster biotech

The second quarter of 2025 saw some big oncology acquisitions, and there were also a couple of hefty licensing deals. Those transactions concerned the hot field of PD-(L)1 x VEGF bispecifics, with first Pfizer and then Bristol Myers Squibb entering this arena, getting rights to 3SBio’s SSGJ-707 and BioNTech’s BNT327 respectively.

This has become the must-have modality for big pharma, although there are several players that still don’t have a presence here, including AstraZeneca, Roche, Johnson & Johnson and AbbVie; and there are plenty of unpartnered Chinese assets to go around.

It’s possible that more deals in this space could emerge by year-end; indeed, last Thursday rumours emerged that Astra could pay up to $15bn for rights to Summit’s ivonescimab, which Summit itself licensed from Akeso for $500m up front.

This would be a huge amount for a project that still has much to prove, and an unusual move for Astra, which has tended to be more financially disciplined than some, and has its own in-house expertise in bispecifics.

If such a deal did materialise it would show just how desperate pharma is to have a presence here.

Radiopharma & siRNA

Moderately sized deals in the quarter included Bristol’s $350m swoop for Philogen's radiopharmaceuticals against ACP3 – adding to the radiopharma expertise the company previously gained through the $4.1bn purchase of RayzeBio.

Meanwhile, AbbVie made a foray into small interfering RNA for oncology, via a $335m tie-up with ADARx Pharmaceuticals.

Other deals were smaller: while Percheron touted a $290m figure for its licensing of Hummingbird’s anti-VISTA MAb HMBD-002, and Juri gained EpimAb’s KLK2-targeting T-cell engager for a reported $210m, both these numbers included milestones, as well as up-fronts.

KLK2 is of interest given J&J’s ongoing efforts here, most recently with a T-cell engager, pasritamig, despite previously seeing troublesome toxicity with a radiopharmaceutical candidate. According to OncologyPipeline, J&J is the only company with clinical-stage assets against this target; as well as the T-cell engager and radiopharmaceutical, it’s also developing a Car-T. Juri/EpiMab’s EM1031, meanwhile, is still preclinical.

Other interesting but small deals include Gilead’s move for Kymera’s CDK2 degrader, which will need to do better than conventional CDK2 inhibitors; NextCure’s licensing of Simcere’s SIM0505, pitting it against Merck & Co and Daiichi in CDH6 ADCs; Qilu’s selection of Minghui’s MHB088C in the competitive B7-H3 ADC arena; and Astellas broadening its Claudin18.2 interest into ADCs, via a tie-up with Evopoint.

As for notable transactions with undisclosed fees, Servier has entered the menin inhibitor fray via a deal with China’s BioNova, while Pierre Faber has taken a punt on the crowded mutant-specific EGFR space, licensing two projects from the Scorpion spinout Antares. Scorpion itself was acquired by Lilly in January, in a deal focused on PI3Kα inhibition. The target’s remaining assets were transferred to Antares, which launched in June with a $177m series A round.

Formosa is also taking a punt on EGFR inhibition, but combining this with ROR1 blockade in ADC form. The most advanced ROR1 player is Merck, with the VelosBio-originated zilovertamab vedotin, although that project has shown worrying toxicity. Another ROR1 player, Oncternal, recently succumbed to a low-ball buyout from Ho’ola Therapeutics.

Benz Sciences could also be going up against Merck after licensing an LSD1 inhibitor from Otsuka’s Taiho subsidiary. Merck’s Imago-originated bomedemstat is in phase 3 in various myeloproliferative disorders.

Notable oncology licensing deals in Q2 2025 

Source: OncologyPipeline.