Gabrielle Masson

Roche is offering $400 million upfront and over $15 billion in biobucks to team up with Hansoh Pharmaceutical in hopes of developing a portfolio of new antibody-drug conjugates using the latter's in-house tech.

The sector's IPO tally has surpassed each of the past four years, with four October debuts adding momentum—but activity still remains well below the COVID-19 boom that saw nearly 100 public debuts in 2021.

AbbVie is eyeing regulatory filings in 2027 for the skin disease drug lutikizumab after clearing multiple endpoints in a late-stage trial, but the results have disappointed some analysts, raising questions about its commercial prospects.

While biopharma financing exit activity has remained strong through the third quarter, public-market performance for the same period was muted, with most of the yearly gains for the U.S. biotech-specific index largely driven by the first half of 2026.

Since 2025, U.S. biopharma companies have raised $37.2 billion—68% of total worldwide venture capital funding—with startups in the San Francisco Bay Area and Boston leading the way.

Merck stole the show at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) annual conference, with new data on its Moderna-partnered personalized cancer vaccine leaking prior to the presentation and antibody-drug conjugate sac-TMT making a splash in endometrial cancer; Bristol Myers Squibb revealed the death of a patient with multiple sclerosis in an early-stage trial of zola-cel; and pharma is on track to easily surpass last year's deal count.

In addition to canning an Orum-acquired blood cancer candidate last month, Bristol Myers Squibb cut a Prothena-partnered neuro asset in the third quarter. But with sales climbing 7%, the Big Pharma raised its full-year revenue forecast.

After Sanofi paid $600 million in cash to acquire Dren Bio's bispecific last year, the biotech has secured a hefty financing to fund late-stage development and commercial preparations for its lead asset.

Acumen will implement cash-saving strategies and assess its options after sabirnetug failed to beat placebo, leaving the biotech without a clinical program.

Strong immunology and neuroscience sales fueled AbbVie’s latest quarterly beat as the pharma’s stock continues to hit all-time highs.