Top Pharma Giants Execute Five $10B+ Acquisitions in Six Months Amid Strategic Portfolio Expansion

　　【Pharmaceutical Network | Industry Trends] Recently, Vertex Pharmaceuticals announced the acquisition of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals to expand its endocrinology business. The acquisition price is $85 per share, with a total transaction value of $10 billion.
 

The core assets included in this acquisition are the marketed drug PALSONIFY and the late-stage candidate atumelnant. PALSONIFY is a once-daily oral therapy for acromegaly, approved by the U.S. FDA in September 2025. Atumelnant is a once-daily oral ACTH receptor antagonist currently in Phase III development for congenital adrenal hyperplasia. The combined peak annual sales of these two assets are projected to exceed $5 billion.
 

Notably, Vertex had set a goal in 2023 to launch five new drugs within five years. The acquisition of Crinetics is expected to accelerate the achievement of this target while simultaneously opening up a new therapeutic area in endocrine disorders for the company, thereby completing its diversified pipeline across cystic fibrosis, hematologic diseases, pain, kidney diseases, and endocrine disorders.
 

It is reported that since 2026, multinational pharmaceutical companies have been rapidly acquiring high-barrier, differentiated innovative assets through large-scale mergers and acquisitions to address the performance pressure brought by the “patent cliff,” thereby maintaining their market position and growth trajectory. To date, including this acquisition, the industry has completed five major deals valued at over $10 billion each.
 

On June 25, Merck KGaA, Germany, signed an acquisition agreement with Bio-Techne Corporation, a company specializing in life science tools. Under the terms of the deal, Merck will acquire all outstanding shares of Bio-Techne for $73 per share in cash, implying a total enterprise value of approximately $11.3 billion. Upon completion of the transaction, Merck Group will gain access to essential industrialization products for cell and gene therapy (CGT), including cytokines, specialized antibodies, and ProteinSimple protein analysis instruments, thereby making a significant entry into the upstream cell therapy market, which exceeds $5 billion in size.
 

On June 22, AbbVie acquired Apogee Therapeutics for $10.9 billion. Under the agreement, AbbVie will acquire Apogee and its portfolio of multiple clinical-stage candidate drugs in development for inflammatory and immune diseases, including atopic dermatitis (AD) and asthma. This acquisition complements AbbVie’s existing immunology portfolio and will accelerate AbbVie’s clinical applications in the respiratory field.
 

On June 9, GSK acquired Nuvalent for $10.6 billion. This acquisition aligns with GSK’s product acquisition strategy, which targets validated mechanisms that can effectively address the limitations of existing standard-of-care therapies in terms of efficacy and/or tolerability. Reportedly, Nuvalent’s pipeline primarily comprises three lung cancer therapeutics: Zidesamtinib (NVL-520), Neladalkib (NVL-655), and NVL-330.
 

In April, Sun Pharmaceutical announced its plan to acquire Organon, a women's health company spun off from Merck & Co., for a total consideration of $11.75 billion (approximately RMB 80.2 billion). The transaction is scheduled to be formally completed in early 2027.
 

Overall, the concentration of these multi-billion-dollar deals reflects that acquisitions remain a direct strategy for pharmaceutical companies to address revenue cliffs. However, unlike the previous pursuit of scale expansion, differentiated technology platforms, non-saturated niche segments, and precision medicines nearing market approval have gradually become the focus of acquisitions.
 

　　Disclaimer: Under no circumstances shall the information or opinions expressed in this article constitute investment advice to any person.