Joseph Haas

Start-up Serapha will go public in a reverse merger with failed cancer firm Boundless and move an in vivo base-editing therapy for alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency licensed from YolTech into Phase II.

Scorpion spin-out Antares will get $105m up front to advance its own pipeline while deploying a covalent binding technology in discovery effort against Novartis-picked targets.

Merger brings cancer-focused Remix public and will coincide with a $100m private placement. Passage's demise is the latest setback in the gene therapy space.

Vistagen's fasedienol has failed three of four Phase III studies in acute SAD, but a subgroup analysis in severe patients could provide a path to approval for SAD treatment over time.

Altimmune will start a Phase III MASH study for pemvidutide this year, but Lilly's triple agonist retatrutide and dual GLP-1/GCG agonists at Merck and Boehringer Ingelheim loom as competition.

Plus deals involving Metis/Boulevard, SK/JH2, Elixirgen/Nippon Shinyaku, Debiopharm/Peptron, April Bio/TKG Group/IMM Investment Fund, Lilly/Abbisko, Lilly/Innovent, Bionyra/TrueLab, Antengene/K2 and more.

Merger and acquisition activity that picked up steam mid-2025, continuing into Q1 2026, kept up its momentum during Q2 according to Evaluate, with 14% and 41% sequential increases in deal volume and total value.

Deal Snapshot: With a growing product for Demodex blepharitis, Tarsus will expand into retinal eye care with a $75m buyout of iRenix and its Phase III candidate for post-procedure ocular pain.

Data from an open-label Phase II study show six-month hair coverage improvement with early onset of action. CEO Reid Waldman says these data should derisk an ongoing Phase III study.

For up to $3.8bn, Lilly will acquire AtaiBeckley and its Phase III-ready psychedelic drug for TRD as a potential competitor to Johnson & Johnson's Spravato.