Eli Lilly, striving to outpace Novo Nordisk, dominated the dealmaking scene in 2023 by executing six acquisitions. Although Pfizer, BMS and AbbVie sealed the largest M&A deals of the year, they did not lead in terms of volume.

Despite the astounding efficacy and commercial potential of incretins in obesity, many groups are trying different mechanistic approaches to the disease – if only to enable combinations. 

Bristol and Regeneron sign separate cell therapy technology pacts, plus deals involving Takeda/ImmunoGen, Serina/AgeX, Cybin/Small Pharma, Taiho/Phost’in, Royalty/Ferring and Aardvark/GRI Bio.

Compass raises $132m in Series A as it moves from screening to the clinic, and start-up HotSpot Therapeutics comes out of stealth mode with a $45m Series A financing co-led by Atlas Venture and Sofinnova Partners.