Deal of the Year

The Deal of the Year award is all about the money. So we are highlighting the deals, mergers and acquisitions, collaborations, licensing partnerships and agreements that have uniquely advanced and progressed the industry’s mission to develop and commercialize life changing therapeutics.

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The Finalists for the 2020 Deal of the Year are:

Bristol Myers Squibb & Celgene
Bristol Myers Squibb rocked the global biopharmaceutical industry by announcing a definitive agreement to acquire Celgene for $74 billion, combining two of the world’s largest cancer companies in one of the biggest pharmaceutical deals ever. Announcing a deal of this size and impact required an extensive deep-dive analysis, significant cross-functional due diligence and continuous Board involvement, including eight board meetings to discuss the merits of the deal in a short time frame. The deal was not without its challenges, including a shareholder activist campaign and a requirement from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that the company divest Otezla in order for the deal to close. This was the largest divestiture the FTC ever required in a merger.

As a result of the completion, Bristol Myers Squibb went from the middle of the pack to a top 10 biopharmaceutical company. The combined company’s pipeline includes more than 50 compounds in development and eight near-term launches as well as cutting edge technologies and discovery platforms to continue driving innovation.

Corvidia & Novo Nordisk
In what was the largest acquisition of a private company in the first half of 2020, Corvidia was sold to Novo Nordisk for $725 million upfront and up to $2.1 billion in total after earn-out.

With just a handful of highly experienced people, Corvidia took its IL-6 ligand antibody, ziltikevimab, into multiple clinical studies in cardiorenal disease. The Corvidia team pursued the drug in heart disease associated with CKD, even though the disease area is out of favor in investor circles, because the potential clinical impact of the drug is so substantial.

Cardiorenal disease remains the leading killer in the US – and IL6-driven inflammation appears to be a better predictor of poor outcomes even than cholesterol status or blood pressure. The PIII studies for the antibody were likely to cost >$250 M and many years, so the team decided to sell to Novo so that the drug's development could be optimized.

Sarepta Therapeutics & Roche
Sarepta received $1.2 billion up-front from Roche in December 2019 in what was the largest licensing transaction in cell/gene therapy history, and the largest single asset license for markets outside the US.

Sarepta is working with urgency to change the lives of those affected by serious and often fatal rare diseases. Gene therapies have transformative potential, and SRP-9001 for treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy is among the most exciting potential new medicines in biotech. The infrastructure in research, manufacturing and supply chain to support patients with these therapies is significant. The Sarepta/Roche agreement will accelerate global access to SRP-9001 by adding Roche’s global reach, commercial presence and regulatory expertise outside the US to Sarepta’s R&D, manufacturing and US commercial infrastructure.