The recent flurry of acquisitions in oncology reveals that big pharma wants in on the fast-growing, potentially lucrative cancer market.
Here is a breakdown of some of big pharma’s recent cander deals reported by The Wall Street Journal.
1. Eli Lilly. Eli Lilly announced plans in early January to buy Loxo Oncology for $8 billion. Loxo Oncology is developing a pipeline of targeted oncology treatments, including those focused on cancers that can be detected by genomic testing. Last year, the FDA approved Loxo’s Vitrakvi, which proved to be effective against a variety of cancers caused by a rare genetic mutation. Last June Lilly also purchased Armo Bioscience, an immunotherapy treatment developer.
2. Bristol-Myers Squibb. The Lilly-Loxo deal came on the heels of Bristol-Myers’ announcement that it planned to buy Celgene for $74 billion. Bristol-Myers, already a top developer of immunotherapy drugs, will gain access to Celgene’s expertise in the myeloma field. Celgene also purchased Juno Therapeutics last year with the goal of becoming a leader in CAR-T cell therapy, which uses patients’ genetically modified immune cells to fight cancer cells. If the $74 billion deal is approved, Bristol-Myers will also have access to those treatments.
3. Gilead Sciences. Gilead has pushed into oncology with its acquisition of Kite Pharma, which specializes in CAR-T therapies.
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