Significant Biotech Agreements Reached in August 2025
In the world of pharmaceuticals, August 2025 saw a flurry of collaborations and acquisitions aimed at advancing the treatment of various diseases.
LAVA Therapeutics, a company specializing in T cell therapies, announced that its lead blood cancer candidate, LAVA-1266, was being dropped. However, the company made a strategic move by partnering with Xoma in August to develop new cancer immunotherapies.
Meanwhile, New York-based VantAI and Connecticut-based Halda Therapeutics formed an alliance valued at over $1 billion, with the aim of discovering RIPTAC medicines.
Novartis, a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company, entered into its third collaboration with Swedish biopharma BioArctic. This time, the focus was on using BioArctic's BrainTransporter technology for drug discovery, targeting neurodegeneration. BioArctic received $30 million upfront and up to $772 million in milestones.
Irish company Jazz Pharmaceuticals teamed up with Denmark-based Saniona to develop a small molecule, SAN2355. Jazz paid Saniona $42.5 million upfront and up to $192.5 million in milestone payments.
Visirna Therapeutics gave up the rights of its drug plozasiran to French pharma giant Sanofi. Sanofi will now develop and potentially commercialise the therapy in China, with Visirna receiving $130 million upfront and up to $265 million in milestone payments.
German pharmaceutical Bayer linked up with California-based Kumquat Biosciences to develop and commercialize a KRAS G12D inhibitor. Bayer could pay Kumquat up to $1.3 billion.
Novo Nordisk entered a deal with California-based Replicate Bioscience to create RNA therapies to treat obesity, type 2 diabetes, and other cardiometabolic diseases. Replicate is eligible for up to $550 million and tiered royalties on future product sales.
American biotech Kite took over Interius BioTherapeutics for $350 million in equity value. Interius' CAR-T pipeline features off-the-shelf therapies designed for a single intravenous dose, eliminating the need for chemotherapy prior to treatment.
Xoma, following its collaboration with LAVA Therapeutics, soon acquired Mural Oncology's cancer immunotherapies. Xoma also purchased biotech startup Mural Oncology for $36.2 million.
Eli Lilly signed an agreement with Massachusetts-based Superluminal Medicines to develop therapies that target G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Superluminal is eligible for up to $1.3 billion in upfront and milestone payments.
Fosun Pharma partnered with U.K.-based Sitala to develop FXS6837, a small molecule inhibitor. Sitala could pay up to $190 million in milestone payments to Fosun.
Boehringer Ingelheim and Palatin Technologies collaborated to develop treatments for vision loss caused by diabetic retinopathy. Palatin is eligible for up to €280 million ($328.3 million) in upfront and milestone payments.
AbbVie completed a $1.2 billion buyout of Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals, giving them control over bretisilocin, a serotonin receptor agonist for major depressive disorder.
Royalty Pharma acquired a $950 million interest in BeOne Medicines' stake in Amgen's bispecific T-cell engager, Imdelltra, which was approved to treat small cell lung cancer, with sales hitting $215 million in the first half of 2025.
Xoma also purchased Dutch company LAVA Therapeutics in August. Further developments in these collaborations and acquisitions are expected in the coming months.
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