Verastem plays the Kras card
For $3m Verastem adds to its pipeline another asset that a bigger company had given up on.
Corporate and regulatory developments over the Christmas period
On the corporate front Astellas continued to buy, while Qiagen decided that it was not, after all, up for sale.
Sarepta makes history with Roche deal
A bidding war has netted Sarepta the largest-ever licensing deal for a cell or gene therapy. Can Roche make it work?
Antitrust watchdog plunges Illumina’s megamerger into darkness
Even if the sequencing giant doesn't suffer in the short term from the death of its bid for Pacbio, long-read tech is nipping at its heels.
Sanofi goes all in with $2.5bn Synthorx buy
The French drugmaker bets big as it plays catch-up in the immuno-oncology space with a next-generation IL-2 buyout.
Astellas spends $3bn on a bold move into gene therapy
The Japanese group has seen potential in Audentes' manufacturing capabilities as well as its pipeline.
Novartis bets $9.7bn on RNA interference
The Swiss group does another deal to access a novel technology, taking out the RNAi specialist The Medicines Company.
Hologic burns its aesthetics unit
Cynosure’s technology seems to have been better at destroying value than it was at destroying fat – Hologic has sold the business for a tenth of the purchase price.
Who will buy Qiagen?
The Dutch group is ripe for a takeover, and while Thermo Fisher has to be the likeliest candidate for acquirer there are a number of potentially interested parties.
Kickstarting ideas
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