Merger and acquisition (M&A) deals have declined from their most recent boom year of 2021, when the scramble to develop COVID-19 vaccines and drugs stoked interest by biopharma giants in buying out usually smaller companies with a pipeline or single promising drug based on clinical success, strong commercial sales, or both.
EY—the professional services firm originally known as Ernst & Young— reported an uptick in the volume of biopharma deals during 2024, with the number of such transactions rising 17% year-over-year, to 95 deals last year from 81 in 2023.
However, the average dollar value of biopharma M&A deals nosedived 51% last year to $92 billion from $186 billion the previous year, as buyers increasingly sought “bolt-on” acquisitions of under $5 billion in therapeutic areas that matched or complemented their own. The best reflection of that trend is the fact that the largest M&A deal of 2024 was Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ acquisition of Alpine Immune Sciences for a mere $4.9 billion—89% less than the $43 billion shelled out by Pfizer for Seagen in 2023’s priciest buyout.
Subin Baral, EY global life sciences deals leader, told GEN M&A deals are expected to increase in 2025, driven by biopharmas that are eager to recoup revenues they expect to lose as their aging blockbuster drugs lose patent exclusivity. EY projects that patent expirations will erase $300 billion in biopharma revenue by 2028.
Deloitte also forecasts a $300 billion loss of biopharma revenue, albeit by 2030. Pete Lyons, a vice chair with Deloitte and the firm’s U.S. Life Sciences Sector Leader, said some of the biggest-name blockbuster drugs of recent years stand to lose patent protection over the next five years—such as Johnson & Johnson/Bayer’s blood thinner Xarelto® (rivaroxaban), Boehringer Ingelheim/Eli Lilly’s Jardiance® (empagliflozin), and AstraZeneca’s top-selling drug Farxiga® (dapagliflozin). Jardiance and Farxiga are both sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors indicated for type 2 diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and heart failure.
In addition to the patent cliff, Lyons said, the expectation of more M&A activity in 2025 is also being driven by a stabilizing economy as interest rates have begun declining, and by the second administration of Donald Trump, which is expected to offer less resistance to M&A deals through a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that Trump has vowed will be business-friendlier.
So which biopharma companies are most likely in the sights of would-be buyers?
As in past years, GEN lists 10 biopharma companies that analysts and other market watchers have seen as buyout targets in recent months. This list is based on notes to investors and comments in news outlets. For each company mentioned, the list explains where talk of acquisition has surfaced, and why.
GEN began publishing A-Lists of takeover targets in 2013. As of last month, one of the 2024 list of Top 10 Takeover Targets has found a buyer when Eli Lilly said it agreed to agreed to acquire Intra-Cellular Therapies for $14.6 billion. That leaves the other nine without buyers so far, though just as savvy investors think long-term, so too should market watchers of biotech M&A. Three of the nine companies on GEN’s initial list 12 years ago have been acquired: Ariad Pharmaceuticals (by Takeda Pharmaceutical in 2017), Medivation (by Pfizer in 2016), and Seattle Genetics (which renamed itself Seagen before Pfizer bought the company in 2023).
That gives GEN a batting average of .333; good enough for Major League Baseball.
Arcellx (NASDAQ: ACLX)
Arcellx’s preliminary data presented in December from its pivotal Phase II iMMagine-1 trial (NCT05396885) assessing anitocabtagene autoleucel (anito-cel) in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma was so positive that it revived talk about the company being an acquisition target—and not just for Gilead Sciences, whose Kite subsidiary partners with Arcellx in developing anito-cel. “While a takeout by Gilead would be nice, we think a takeout by someone else would be even better,” Matthew Biegler (Oppenheimer) opined, adding that many analysts consider anito-cel a best-in-class chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy for multiple myeloma. At the 66th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition, Arcellx reported an overall response rate of 97% (83/86 patients) with a complete response/stringent complete response rate of 62% (53/86) and a very good partial response or higher rate of 81% (70/86).
BioMarin Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ: BMRN)
In the year-plus since becoming BioMarin’s President and CEO, Alexander Hardy has restructured the company by supporting additional uptake of marketed drugs Roctavian® and Voxzogo®, and accelerating development of three pipeline candidates deemed to have the highest commercial potential (BMN 333, BMN 349, and BMN 351) while ending development of four others in April (BMN 331, BMN 255, BMN 355 and BMN 365) and a fifth in August (BMN 293). The additional halt increased BioMarin’s job cuts from 170 to 225 positions. By October, Hardy credited BioMarin’s “Innovation, Growth, and Value” commitment with a 19% rise in revenue and near-doubling of net income during Q1-Q3 2024. BioMarin’s robust results plus low valuation ($12.737 billion market cap as of January 3) “provides an attractive M&A opportunity especially for companies facing LOEs,” Kostas Biliouris, PhD, of BMO Capital Markets wrote July 8. BioMarin appeared on last year’s GEN A-List of takeover targets, and on every earlier one published between 2013 and 2019.
Blueprint Medicines (NASDAQ: BPMC)
Three times in 2024, Blueprint Medicines raised its sales guidance for its sole commercial drug Ayvakit® (avapritinib), whose indications include gastrointestinal stromal tumor as well as advanced and indolent systemic mastocytosis (SM). From an initial $360 million-$390 million, Blueprint raised its guidance range to $390 million-$410 million in May, then to $435 million-$450 million in August, and finally $475 million to $480 million in October. The company has also raised its Ayvakit peak year sales forecast, to $2 billion from $1.5 billion. “If SM market is worth $2B, we’re not sure why a large pharma hasn’t pounced,” Matthew Biegler (Oppenheimer) wrote. Biegler included Blueprint among five potential biotech buyout candidates in a January 3 note. Blueprint was also among Wells Fargo’s 31 potential small- to mid-cap biopharma M&A targets for 2024.
Evotec (Frankfurt: EVT; NASDAQ: EVO)
Evotec sought to boost its earnings before EBITDA through a “priority reset” in April that including eliminating some 400 jobs, withdrawing from gene therapy, and selling a chemical active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing site in Halle/Westphalia, Germany. Instead, its EBITDA swung to a loss and its stock price plunged 60% by November 8, when Evotec disclosed in a regulatory filing that private equity firm Triton Partners took a 9.99% stake in the company. Three days later, Bloomberg reported that Triton was among several investment firms looking to acquire the contract research organization. On November 14, Halozyme Therapeutics confirmed making an unsolicited offer to acquire Evotec for €2 billion ($2.1 billion), only to withdraw that offer two weeks later after an Evotec spokesperson said the company wished to remain independent.
Immutep (ASX: IMM)
Andrew Hamilton (Antares Equities) declared Immutep could be an acquisition target based on its cancer-fighting lead candidate, the soluble LAG-3 protein and first-in-class antigen presenting cell activator eftilagimod alpha (Efti). In September, the combo of Efti and Merck & Co.’s Keytruda® (pembrolizumab) showed a 31% overall response rate in first-line head and neck cancer vs. 18% for Keytruda alone. Hamilton noted Efti’s patents extend to the mid-2030s while Merck is set to lose key U.S. patent protection for Keytruda in 2028. “It’s not just Merck. Many of the largest global drug companies are facing significant patent cliffs before 2030 which, we think, makes a drug with Efti’s enormous potential revenue and quality data very appealing.”
Insmed (NASDAQ: INSM)
With Insmed’s shares more than doubling in 2024, zooming 144% from $28.68 to $69.86, Christina Cheddar Berk (CNBC Pro) predicted the company’s stock has “a good chance of breaking out in 2025”—a forecast based in part on Andrea Newkirk, PhD (Goldman Sachs)’s conclusion that the company could make an attractive buyout target for larger biopharmas focused on treating respiratory diseases. Insmed ended 2024 close to submitting a New Drug Application (NDA) for its lead pipeline candidate brensocatib in the chronic pulmonary disorder non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis (NCFBE)—a drug the company says could generate peak year sales of $5.9 billion, but which Newkirk concluded “likely significantly” underestimated the drug’s true potential. Insmed shares rocketed 150% in May when the company announced its NDA plans for brensocatib following positive Phase III data.
Legend Biotech (NASDAQ: LEGN)
Legend lived up to its name in 2017 by attracting $350 million upfront from Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Biotech to partner on developing, manufacturing, and commercializing the CAR T-cell therapy Carvykti® (ciltacabtagene autoleucel), which treats adults with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma by targeting the B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA). J&J has projected $5 billion-plus in peak-year sales for Carvykti—a key reason why, despite its net losses, Legend reportedly hired Centerview Partners in July to evaluate a takeover offer, according to StreetInsider.com, which cited an unnamed source. Legend has declined to comment. Following reported rumors that they differed on an acquisition price, Legend’s parent GenScript said in October it had deconsolidated from onetime subsidiary Legend. Carvykti sales helped Legend shrink its nine-month net loss year-over-year, to $203.310 million from $373.436 million in Q1-Q3 2023.
Nuvalent (NASDAQ: NUVL)
Nuvalent says it is on track to bring its first targeted cancer treatment to market in 2026. Nuvalent achieved all anticipated 2024 milestones, including positive Phase I data for its Phase I/II candidates for ROS1-positive and ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)—the former (Zidesamtinib) expected to report pivotal data this year, the latter (NVL-655) set to launch a Phase III trial vs. Roche/Genentech’s Alecensa® (alactinib) in H1 2025. Those drugs plus a HER-2 positive NSCLC candidate could generate $205 million in 2026 revenue, growing to $4.5 billion in 2032, predicted Swayampakula Ramakanth
(H.C. Wainwright). Another attraction to potential buyers: Nuvalent’s $1.2 billion cash runway into 2028. Nuvalent bolstered its M&A expertise in December by appointing to its board Grant Bogle, a nearly four-decade biotech industry veteran who was most recently CEO of Epizyme, acquired in 2022 by Ipsen.
Silence Therapeutics (NASDAQ: SLN)
Initiating coverage of Silence’s stock on September 2, Kelly Shi, PhD (Jefferies) highlighted the short interfering RNA (siRNA) drug developer’s collaborations with several larger biopharmas, including AstraZeneca, Mallinckrodt, and Hansoh Pharmaceutical. Silence’s “collaboration agreements highlight the potential of Silence’s technology platform, which could attract acquisition interest as well,” Shi wrote. Silence has applied its mRNAi GOLD
platform to develop a pipeline led by Lp(a)-targeting cardiovascular candidate zerlasiran and TMPRSS6-targeting polycythemia vera (PV) candidate divesiran. Shi also noted that another siRNA drug developer, Dicerna Pharmaceuticals, was acquired by Novo Nordisk in 2021 for $3.3 billion, an 80% premium above its stock price: “We believe additional clinical data from Lp(a) and PV programs will validate Silence’s platform to attract similar acquisition interest.”
Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ: VKTX)
The success of Novo Nordisk’s and Eli Lilly’s glucagon-like peptide receptor 1 (GLP-1) blockbuster obesity/diabetes drugs has fueled talk about other metabolic drug developers finding buyers—notably Viking, whose VK2735 targets both GLP-1 and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) receptors. VK2735’s Phase III-ready status and plans to file an investigational New Drug (IND) application for its first amylin agonist candidate for obesity in 2025 “offers a unique set of attractive characteristics in the lens of big pharma,” much as “it is risky to base our investment thesis on an eventual takeout,” Andy T. Hsieh (William Blair) wrote in November. A month later, takeover talk cooled after Merck & Co. gained exclusive rights to Hansoh’s oral small molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist HS-10535 through an up-to-$2 billion licensing agreement.
The post Top 10 Takeover Targets of 2025 appeared first on GEN - Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News.
EY—the professional services firm originally known as Ernst & Young— reported an uptick in the volume of biopharma deals during 2024, with the number of such transactions rising 17% year-over-year, to 95 deals last year from 81 in 2023.
However, the average dollar value of biopharma M&A deals nosedived 51% last year to $92 billion from $186 billion the previous year, as buyers increasingly sought “bolt-on” acquisitions of under $5 billion in therapeutic areas that matched or complemented their own. The best reflection of that trend is the fact that the largest M&A deal of 2024 was Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ acquisition of Alpine Immune Sciences for a mere $4.9 billion—89% less than the $43 billion shelled out by Pfizer for Seagen in 2023’s priciest buyout.
Subin Baral, EY global life sciences deals leader, told GEN M&A deals are expected to increase in 2025, driven by biopharmas that are eager to recoup revenues they expect to lose as their aging blockbuster drugs lose patent exclusivity. EY projects that patent expirations will erase $300 billion in biopharma revenue by 2028.
Deloitte also forecasts a $300 billion loss of biopharma revenue, albeit by 2030. Pete Lyons, a vice chair with Deloitte and the firm’s U.S. Life Sciences Sector Leader, said some of the biggest-name blockbuster drugs of recent years stand to lose patent protection over the next five years—such as Johnson & Johnson/Bayer’s blood thinner Xarelto® (rivaroxaban), Boehringer Ingelheim/Eli Lilly’s Jardiance® (empagliflozin), and AstraZeneca’s top-selling drug Farxiga® (dapagliflozin). Jardiance and Farxiga are both sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors indicated for type 2 diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and heart failure.
In addition to the patent cliff, Lyons said, the expectation of more M&A activity in 2025 is also being driven by a stabilizing economy as interest rates have begun declining, and by the second administration of Donald Trump, which is expected to offer less resistance to M&A deals through a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that Trump has vowed will be business-friendlier.
So which biopharma companies are most likely in the sights of would-be buyers?
As in past years, GEN lists 10 biopharma companies that analysts and other market watchers have seen as buyout targets in recent months. This list is based on notes to investors and comments in news outlets. For each company mentioned, the list explains where talk of acquisition has surfaced, and why.
GEN began publishing A-Lists of takeover targets in 2013. As of last month, one of the 2024 list of Top 10 Takeover Targets has found a buyer when Eli Lilly said it agreed to agreed to acquire Intra-Cellular Therapies for $14.6 billion. That leaves the other nine without buyers so far, though just as savvy investors think long-term, so too should market watchers of biotech M&A. Three of the nine companies on GEN’s initial list 12 years ago have been acquired: Ariad Pharmaceuticals (by Takeda Pharmaceutical in 2017), Medivation (by Pfizer in 2016), and Seattle Genetics (which renamed itself Seagen before Pfizer bought the company in 2023).
That gives GEN a batting average of .333; good enough for Major League Baseball.
Arcellx (NASDAQ: ACLX)
Arcellx’s preliminary data presented in December from its pivotal Phase II iMMagine-1 trial (NCT05396885) assessing anitocabtagene autoleucel (anito-cel) in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma was so positive that it revived talk about the company being an acquisition target—and not just for Gilead Sciences, whose Kite subsidiary partners with Arcellx in developing anito-cel. “While a takeout by Gilead would be nice, we think a takeout by someone else would be even better,” Matthew Biegler (Oppenheimer) opined, adding that many analysts consider anito-cel a best-in-class chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy for multiple myeloma. At the 66th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition, Arcellx reported an overall response rate of 97% (83/86 patients) with a complete response/stringent complete response rate of 62% (53/86) and a very good partial response or higher rate of 81% (70/86).
BioMarin Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ: BMRN)
In the year-plus since becoming BioMarin’s President and CEO, Alexander Hardy has restructured the company by supporting additional uptake of marketed drugs Roctavian® and Voxzogo®, and accelerating development of three pipeline candidates deemed to have the highest commercial potential (BMN 333, BMN 349, and BMN 351) while ending development of four others in April (BMN 331, BMN 255, BMN 355 and BMN 365) and a fifth in August (BMN 293). The additional halt increased BioMarin’s job cuts from 170 to 225 positions. By October, Hardy credited BioMarin’s “Innovation, Growth, and Value” commitment with a 19% rise in revenue and near-doubling of net income during Q1-Q3 2024. BioMarin’s robust results plus low valuation ($12.737 billion market cap as of January 3) “provides an attractive M&A opportunity especially for companies facing LOEs,” Kostas Biliouris, PhD, of BMO Capital Markets wrote July 8. BioMarin appeared on last year’s GEN A-List of takeover targets, and on every earlier one published between 2013 and 2019.
Blueprint Medicines (NASDAQ: BPMC)
Three times in 2024, Blueprint Medicines raised its sales guidance for its sole commercial drug Ayvakit® (avapritinib), whose indications include gastrointestinal stromal tumor as well as advanced and indolent systemic mastocytosis (SM). From an initial $360 million-$390 million, Blueprint raised its guidance range to $390 million-$410 million in May, then to $435 million-$450 million in August, and finally $475 million to $480 million in October. The company has also raised its Ayvakit peak year sales forecast, to $2 billion from $1.5 billion. “If SM market is worth $2B, we’re not sure why a large pharma hasn’t pounced,” Matthew Biegler (Oppenheimer) wrote. Biegler included Blueprint among five potential biotech buyout candidates in a January 3 note. Blueprint was also among Wells Fargo’s 31 potential small- to mid-cap biopharma M&A targets for 2024.
Evotec (Frankfurt: EVT; NASDAQ: EVO)
Evotec sought to boost its earnings before EBITDA through a “priority reset” in April that including eliminating some 400 jobs, withdrawing from gene therapy, and selling a chemical active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing site in Halle/Westphalia, Germany. Instead, its EBITDA swung to a loss and its stock price plunged 60% by November 8, when Evotec disclosed in a regulatory filing that private equity firm Triton Partners took a 9.99% stake in the company. Three days later, Bloomberg reported that Triton was among several investment firms looking to acquire the contract research organization. On November 14, Halozyme Therapeutics confirmed making an unsolicited offer to acquire Evotec for €2 billion ($2.1 billion), only to withdraw that offer two weeks later after an Evotec spokesperson said the company wished to remain independent.
Immutep (ASX: IMM)
Andrew Hamilton (Antares Equities) declared Immutep could be an acquisition target based on its cancer-fighting lead candidate, the soluble LAG-3 protein and first-in-class antigen presenting cell activator eftilagimod alpha (Efti). In September, the combo of Efti and Merck & Co.’s Keytruda® (pembrolizumab) showed a 31% overall response rate in first-line head and neck cancer vs. 18% for Keytruda alone. Hamilton noted Efti’s patents extend to the mid-2030s while Merck is set to lose key U.S. patent protection for Keytruda in 2028. “It’s not just Merck. Many of the largest global drug companies are facing significant patent cliffs before 2030 which, we think, makes a drug with Efti’s enormous potential revenue and quality data very appealing.”
Insmed (NASDAQ: INSM)
With Insmed’s shares more than doubling in 2024, zooming 144% from $28.68 to $69.86, Christina Cheddar Berk (CNBC Pro) predicted the company’s stock has “a good chance of breaking out in 2025”—a forecast based in part on Andrea Newkirk, PhD (Goldman Sachs)’s conclusion that the company could make an attractive buyout target for larger biopharmas focused on treating respiratory diseases. Insmed ended 2024 close to submitting a New Drug Application (NDA) for its lead pipeline candidate brensocatib in the chronic pulmonary disorder non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis (NCFBE)—a drug the company says could generate peak year sales of $5.9 billion, but which Newkirk concluded “likely significantly” underestimated the drug’s true potential. Insmed shares rocketed 150% in May when the company announced its NDA plans for brensocatib following positive Phase III data.
Legend Biotech (NASDAQ: LEGN)
Legend lived up to its name in 2017 by attracting $350 million upfront from Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Biotech to partner on developing, manufacturing, and commercializing the CAR T-cell therapy Carvykti® (ciltacabtagene autoleucel), which treats adults with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma by targeting the B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA). J&J has projected $5 billion-plus in peak-year sales for Carvykti—a key reason why, despite its net losses, Legend reportedly hired Centerview Partners in July to evaluate a takeover offer, according to StreetInsider.com, which cited an unnamed source. Legend has declined to comment. Following reported rumors that they differed on an acquisition price, Legend’s parent GenScript said in October it had deconsolidated from onetime subsidiary Legend. Carvykti sales helped Legend shrink its nine-month net loss year-over-year, to $203.310 million from $373.436 million in Q1-Q3 2023.
Nuvalent (NASDAQ: NUVL)
Nuvalent says it is on track to bring its first targeted cancer treatment to market in 2026. Nuvalent achieved all anticipated 2024 milestones, including positive Phase I data for its Phase I/II candidates for ROS1-positive and ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)—the former (Zidesamtinib) expected to report pivotal data this year, the latter (NVL-655) set to launch a Phase III trial vs. Roche/Genentech’s Alecensa® (alactinib) in H1 2025. Those drugs plus a HER-2 positive NSCLC candidate could generate $205 million in 2026 revenue, growing to $4.5 billion in 2032, predicted Swayampakula Ramakanth
(H.C. Wainwright). Another attraction to potential buyers: Nuvalent’s $1.2 billion cash runway into 2028. Nuvalent bolstered its M&A expertise in December by appointing to its board Grant Bogle, a nearly four-decade biotech industry veteran who was most recently CEO of Epizyme, acquired in 2022 by Ipsen.
Silence Therapeutics (NASDAQ: SLN)
Initiating coverage of Silence’s stock on September 2, Kelly Shi, PhD (Jefferies) highlighted the short interfering RNA (siRNA) drug developer’s collaborations with several larger biopharmas, including AstraZeneca, Mallinckrodt, and Hansoh Pharmaceutical. Silence’s “collaboration agreements highlight the potential of Silence’s technology platform, which could attract acquisition interest as well,” Shi wrote. Silence has applied its mRNAi GOLD

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ: VKTX)
The success of Novo Nordisk’s and Eli Lilly’s glucagon-like peptide receptor 1 (GLP-1) blockbuster obesity/diabetes drugs has fueled talk about other metabolic drug developers finding buyers—notably Viking, whose VK2735 targets both GLP-1 and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) receptors. VK2735’s Phase III-ready status and plans to file an investigational New Drug (IND) application for its first amylin agonist candidate for obesity in 2025 “offers a unique set of attractive characteristics in the lens of big pharma,” much as “it is risky to base our investment thesis on an eventual takeout,” Andy T. Hsieh (William Blair) wrote in November. A month later, takeover talk cooled after Merck & Co. gained exclusive rights to Hansoh’s oral small molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist HS-10535 through an up-to-$2 billion licensing agreement.
The post Top 10 Takeover Targets of 2025 appeared first on GEN - Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News.