August wasn’t the busiest month for biopharmas and life science companies on the deals front, but it did see sustained research collaboration in oncology and metabolic disease. As per usual, American companies were the most eager dealmakers, followed by biotechs located in the Asia Pacific region.
Top biotech M&As of August 2026
Despite the holiday season, August saw a steady flow of deals in the biopharma space. The top acquisition was Lilly’s buyout of Massachusetts-based Merida Biosciences worth up to $2.875 billion. Merida has a pipeline of engineered proteins that targets the antibodies that drive autoimmune and allergic diseases. The lead candidate is a fusion protein for Graves’ disease and thyroid eye disease, both autoimmune conditions that affect the thyroid gland. This comes a month after Lilly bought the mental health therapeutics company AtaiBeckley for $3.8 billion.
Next, Irish company Jazz Pharmaceuticals acquired California-based Actio Biosciences for $820 million upfront and up to $500 million in milestones. The small molecule developer’s main candidate is an ion channel inhibitor designed to treat epilepsy, a neurological disorder. Jazz previously joined hands with AbCellera over antibody development in June.
Meanwhile, California-based Tarsus Pharmaceuticals has taken over Alkeus Pharmaceuticals, a developer of treatments for eye conditions. Tarsus will spend $450 million upfront and up to $350 million in milestones and gain control of Alkeus’ phase 2 small molecule for Stargardt disease, an eye disease that causes vision loss. Tarsus is a savant in the field, having marketed its eye drops Xdemvy for demodex blepharitis, an inflammatory condition caused by mites in eyelash follicles and oil glands.
In a $435 million acquisition, Copenhagen-headquartered LEO Pharma has bought Tanabe Pharma’s small molecule. Dersimelagon, the oral melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R) agonist in question, has completed phase 3 trials for erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP) and X-linked proto-porphyria (XLP), and the Osaka-based biotech has already filed for U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval. Both EPP and XLP are genetic disorders linked to hypersensitivity to sunlight. If greenlit by regulators, LEO Pharma will run dersimelagon’s commercialization. The multinational pharma got involved in the genetics space after it bought Replay’s gene therapies pipeline in April.
Further, Massachusetts-based Werewolf Therapeutics has merged with Ambros Therapeutics, a pain therapy developer located in California. The latter’s prime candidate is neridronate, a small molecule in phase 3 studies for pain syndrome type 1 (CRPS-1), a neuroinflammatory condition that causes severe and lasting pain following trauma to the bone or an injury. The merger’s financial terms were undisclosed, but Ambros revealed that it also gathered $150 million from a private placement last month.
Finally, Massachusetts-based Fulcrum Therapeutics merged with North Carolina-based Slate Medicines. While the financial terms were not revealed, Slate did announce that it gained $245 million from a private placement. The merged entity will operate as Slate Medicines and focus on developing Slate’s lead candidate SLTE-1009, a monoclonal antibody in the phase 1 stage to prevent migraines and other headache disorders.
Biotech deals by approach in June 2026
ADCs advance in the clinic
In a billion-dollar deal, Roche-owned American multinational Genentech has teamed up with Shanghai-based DualityBio to develop antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) using the latter’s DUPAC platform. The Chinese biotech will discover the ADCs and then take them through phase 1a studies. Then, Genentech will oversee further clinical development and potential commercialization. DualityBio will secure $45 million and is eligible to rake in more than $1 billion. Genentech’s second deal last month, it previously tapped Cambridge-headquartered Astex Pharmaceuticals to identify small molecules for breast cancer two months ago.
Illinois-based Pathos AI has struck a deal with Alphamab Biopharmaceuticals over the latter’s TROP2/HER3 bispecific antibody-drug conjugate JSKN016 for cancer. The Jiangsu-located biotech has granted Pathos AI the rights to research, develop, manufacture, and commercialize the candidate in regions outside China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. Alphamab is entitled to $125 million upfront and up to $2.093 billion in development and commercialization milestones.
Collaborations continue over antibodies, small molecules, and PROTACs
Genentech’s second deal in August was over a peptide therapy. It knocked on Seoul-based Hanmi Pharm’s door to license the latter’s candidate HM17321 for obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart diseases. Hanmi will continue developing it in phase 1 trials and then will hand the drug over to Genentech, except in South Korea. HM17321 is first-in-class and is meant to preserve lean body mass, unlike other weight loss drugs on the market. Hanmi will scoop up $190 million upfront as part of a pact worth up to $2.3 billion.
Japanese company Ono Pharmaceutical is partnering with Massachusetts-based Mediar Therapeutics, which is developing treatments for fibrosis. The Osaka-located company has secured an option for the worldwide rights to develop and commercialize new drugs to address fibrotic diseases that are targeted at the myofibroblast cells, which drive fibrosis. Ono will pay Mediar an upfront fee but did not disclose how much.
Moreover, SK Biopharmaceuticals, headquartered in Seongnam-si, has forged an agreement with Connecticut-based Biohaven for the American biotech’s Kv7 ion channel platform as well as the epilepsy candidate opakalim. The South Korean company has nabbed the rights to the platform, and both the companies will develop the oral potassium channel activator that is currently in phase 2/3 trials. Biohaven will rake in up to $795 million in upfront and milestone payments.
Another deal in the ion channel space, pharma giant Lilly is collaborating with California-based OmniAb to discover and develop new therapies born from OmniAb’s technology platform. The American antibody developer can garner up to $370 million in milestone payments on top of an undisclosed upfront payment.
Finally, Pathos AI’s second pact last month was with British giant AstraZeneca. The two will develop AstraZeneca’s preclinical candidate AZD4241, a proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs) designed to target breast cancer that is estrogen receptor-positive and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (ER+/HER2-). When AZD4241 hits the clinic, Pathos will lead the trials. The financial terms of the deal were not revealed. The big pharma was on a roll signing licensing deals in the small molecule and RNA interference spaces to treat cancer, breathing disorders, and kidney diseases with Chinese companies back in July.
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