The height of the summer saw eight $1bn plus deals penned, including those by Pfizer and Roche.

Three $1B+ alliances were penned in July. Topping the list was a potential $2M deal between Skyhawk Therapeutics and Sanofi for the development of novel small molecules that modulate RNA splicing for challenging oncology and immunology targets. Skyhawk will grant Sanofi exclusive worldwide intellectual property rights to candidates discovered and developed under the collaboration. Skyhawk receives $54M up front and is also eligible to receive over $2B in potential milestone payments, as well as potential royalties on future sales. In the top July M&A by deal value, SD Biosensor and a consortium formed with private equity firm SJL Partners agreed to acquire US-based in vitro diagnostics company Meridian Bioscience in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $1.53B. Founded in 1976, Meridian is a fully integrated life science company that manufactures, markets, and distributes a broad range of diagnostic test kits, purified reagents, and biopharmaceutical enabling technologies. The company has gained expertise through numerous acquisitions over the years including point-of-care testing firm Magellan Biosciences, GenePOC (develops POC molecular diagnostics for infectious diseases), and gastrointestinal diagnostics maker Exalenz Bioscience. Financing reached $3.97bn in biopharma, $851m in device, and $318m in diagnostics.

During Q2, biopharma merger and acquisition value reached $25.4bn and drew in $27.3bn in potential deal value from alliances. Device company M&A values reached $2.7bn, while in vitro diagnostic firms and research tools players completed M&A activity that totaled $534.3m.

During Q2, biopharmas brought in an aggregate $12.5bn in financing and device company fundraising totaled $3.7bn; while in vitro diagnostic firms and research tools players raised $720m.

Six $1B+ alliances were penned in June. Topping the list was a potential $4.26M deal between Immatics and Bristol Myers Squibb for the development of multiple allogeneic off-the-shelf TCR-T and/or CAR-T programs. The companies seek to develop two BMS-owned programs and both firms will have an option to develop up to four additional programs each. The programs will utilize Immatics’ ACTallo proprietary allogeneic gamma delta T cell-derived adoptive cell therapy platform. BMS contributes its suite of next-generation technologies as well as its oncology drug development expertise. Bristol Myers Squibb was also involved in the top June M&A by deal value. The company entered into an agreement to acquire Turning Point Therapeutics in an all-cash transaction with an equity value of $4.1B. Founded in 2013 as TP Therapeutics, Turning Point has advanced a pipeline of investigational medicines designed to target the most common mutations associated with oncogenesis. Its lead asset, repotrectinib, is a next-generation, potential best-in-class tyrosine kinase inhibitor targeting the ROS1 and NTRK oncogenic drivers of non-small cell lung cancer and other advanced solid tumors. Repotrectinib has been granted three Breakthrough Therapy designations from the US FDA. BMS expects the therapy to be approved in H2 2023 and become a new standard of care for patients with ROS1-positive NSCLC in the first-line setting. Turning Point also has several other clinical-stage oncology candidates in addition to multiple discovery programs. Financing reached $5.2bn in biopharma, $498m in device, and $311m in diagnostics.

In the top May alliance by deal value, Amphista Therapeutics and Bristol Myers Squibb aim to discover and develop targeted small-molecule protein degraders by leveraging Amphista's proprietary Eclipsys platform. BMS gets exclusive global rights to resulting products. Amphista will receive a $30M upfront payment, up to $1.25B in performance-based milestone payments, payment for a limited expansion of the collaboration, as well as royalties on global net sales.