BMS–Hengrui $15.2B Anchors a Three-Week Deal Wave; Lilly and Novo Reshape the Global Top 10

Angelini Pharma to Acquire Catalyst Pharmaceuticals

Announced May 7, 2026 • Up to $4.1B (all-cash) • Italy ⇄ U.S. • Rare neurology

Deal terms. Italy-based Angelini Pharma agreed to acquire Catalyst Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: CPRX) at $31.50 per share in cash for total consideration of approximately $4.1 billion (€3.5 billion), representing a 28% premium to the 30-day VWAP through April 22 and a 21% premium to the prior day's close. The transaction is expected to close in Q3 2026, subject to Catalyst shareholder and regulatory approvals.

Strategic rationale. The deal marks Angelini's entry into the U.S. market and adds three marketed CNS / rare-disease products to its portfolio: Firdapse (amifampridine) for Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome, Agamree (vamorolone) for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and Fycompa (perampanel) for focal and primary generalized tonic-clonic seizures. Catalyst generated $589 million in 2025 revenue (+20% YoY), giving Angelini both an immediate U.S. commercial footprint and durable rare-disease cash flows.

UCB to Acquire Candid Therapeutics

Announced May 3, 2026 • Up to $2.2B ($2.0B upfront + $200M milestones) • Belgium ⇄ U.S. • Immunology / T-cell engagers

Deal terms. UCB signed a definitive agreement to acquire privately-held Candid Therapeutics for $2.0 billion in upfront cash plus up to $200 million in contingent milestone payments. Closing is expected by end of Q2 / early Q3 2026, subject to antitrust clearance and customary conditions.

Strategic rationale. Candid's lead asset, cizutamig, is a BCMA × CD3 bispecific T-cell engager (TCE) in multiple Phase 1 trials across autoimmune indications — a modality category UCB views as the next frontier in "immune reset" therapy. The platform complements UCB's established immunology pipeline (Bimzelx, Rystiggo) and gives it a foothold in the increasingly competitive TCE-for-autoimmunity space alongside Cullinan, Roche, and AbbVie.

Merck Completes Acquisition of Terns Pharmaceuticals

Closed May 5, 2026 (announced March 25, 2026) • $6.7B equity value ($53.00/share cash) • U.S. ⇄ U.S. • Oncology / CML

Deal terms. Merck (NYSE: MRK) closed its all-cash tender offer for Terns Pharmaceuticals at $53.00 per share, equating to approximately $6.7 billion in equity value. The transaction will be treated as an asset acquisition, generating an in-process R&D charge of roughly $5.8 billion in Q2 2026.

Strategic rationale. Terns brings TERN-701, a next-generation allosteric BCR::ABL1 inhibitor that recently earned FDA Breakthrough Therapy Designation in third-line chronic myeloid leukemia (without T315I mutation). The asset, currently in the Phase 1/2 CARDINAL study, slots into Merck's oncology franchise as a potential successor to Novartis' Scemblix and provides additional pipeline depth ahead of the looming Keytruda LOE.

Bristol Myers Squibb × Hengrui Pharma — 13-program global pact

Announced May 12, 2026 • Up to $15.2B biobucks ($600M upfront + $350M anniversary payments) • U.S. ⇄ China • Oncology · Hematology · Immunology

Deal terms. BMS will pay Hengrui (HKEX: 1276) up to $950 million in near-term cash — a $600 million upfront, plus $175 million on the first anniversary and a further $175 million contingent payment in 2028. Total deal value, including options on jointly-discovered programs and the full set of development, regulatory, and commercial milestones, reaches approximately $15.2 billion. Tiered royalties also accrue to Hengrui on net sales outside the Hengrui Territory (mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau).

Strategic rationale. The agreement structures three workstreams: BMS licenses four Hengrui oncology/hematology assets ex-Greater China; Hengrui licenses four BMS immunology assets in Greater China; and the parties jointly discover five additional candidates across novel modalities. The deal is one of the largest China-out licensing transactions ever signed and underscores how Big Pharma is now using cross-border partnerships rather than acquisitions to backfill pipelines facing the late-decade patent cliff. Expected close: Q3 2026.

AbbVie ↔ Kestrel Therapeutics — option-to-acquire on pan-KRAS inhibitor

Announced April 28, 2026 • Up to $1.45B (upfront + option exercise + downstream milestones) • U.S. ⇄ U.S. • Oncology / KRAS

Deal terms. AbbVie entered a warrant and exclusive option agreement to acquire Kestrel Therapeutics following defined development milestones for KST-6051, Kestrel's oral pan-KRAS inhibitor. Aggregate consideration — including the upfront, option exercise price, and downstream milestones — could reach up to $1.45 billion. The structure was unveiled alongside dosing of the first patient in the KST-6051 Phase 1 trial.

Strategic rationale. KST-6051 binds KRAS in both GTP- and GDP-bound states while sparing HRAS and NRAS, a selectivity profile designed to broaden pathway coverage without the toxicity historically associated with pan-RAS approaches. The deal extends AbbVie's footprint in the increasingly competitive RAS space (Revolution Medicines, Mirati/BMS, Astellas, Roche) without an outright early-stage acquisition — a now-common "build-to-buy" structure that has been popular across 2026.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals licenses VEPPANU (vepdegestrant) from Arvinas & Pfizer

Announced May 12, 2026 • Up to $405M ($85M upfront/transition + $320M milestones + royalties) • U.S. ⇄ U.S. • Oncology / ER+ HER2- breast cancer

Deal terms. Arvinas (Nasdaq: ARVN) and Pfizer granted Rigel Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: RIGL) exclusive global rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialize VEPPANU. Rigel will pay $70 million upfront and an additional $15 million on successful completion of select development/manufacturing transition milestones, split evenly between Arvinas and Pfizer. Additional development, regulatory, and commercial milestones totaling $320 million plus tiered royalties round out the potential value.

Strategic rationale. VEPPANU (vepdegestrant) is the first FDA-approved PROTAC (proteolysis-targeting chimera) and is indicated for adults with ER+/HER2-, ESR1-mutated advanced or metastatic breast cancer following at least one line of endocrine therapy. The transaction lets Arvinas and Pfizer monetize a non-core launch asset while Rigel, which already commercializes Tavalisse and Rezlidhia, gains its first oncology PROTAC and a fully approved label to leverage its existing hematology/oncology sales infrastructure.

GSK × Sino Biopharmaceutical (CTTQ) — bepirovirsen China launch collaboration

Announced May 11, 2026 • Undisclosed (supply + commercial services) • U.K. ⇄ China • Chronic hepatitis B

Deal terms. GSK entered an exclusive 5.5-year collaboration with Chia Tai Tianqing Pharmaceutical Group (CTTQ), the hepatology unit of Sino Biopharmaceutical (HKEX: 1177), covering the launch of bepirovirsen in mainland China. CTTQ will purchase bepirovirsen from GSK and manage importation, distribution, hospital access, and promotional activities across more than 5,000 medical centers. Financial terms were not disclosed. GSK additionally secured a right to review certain early-stage SBP pipeline assets for potential ex-China collaboration.

Strategic rationale. Bepirovirsen — a Phase 3 antisense oligonucleotide originally licensed from Ionis — has Breakthrough Therapy designation in both the U.S. and China and has been accepted for priority review by China's NMPA. The deal effectively outsources China commercial execution to a domestic specialist while preserving GSK's economics through a supply margin — a pragmatic counterpoint to the more common "in-license from China" headlines of 2026.

• China out-licensing remains the dominant story. BMS–Hengrui ($15.2B headline) is the second mega-deal of 2026 originating from a Chinese discovery pipeline (after AstraZeneca–CSPC in Q1). With average China-out deal sizes up ~76% YoY, the cost-of-entry for late-preclinical/Phase 1 Chinese assets is no longer a bargain — the strategic urgency is now driven by pipeline depth rather than valuation arbitrage.
• Option/warrant structures are the new norm at early stage. The AbbVie–Kestrel framework (upfront warrant + milestone-gated option exercise) has now been used in three of the four early-clinical RAS deals announced in 2026. Expect more of this for asset categories where binary readouts dominate value.
• Rare-disease consolidation continues. Angelini–Catalyst follows Chiesi–KalVista (Q1) and the still-pending UCB–Neurona transaction. Privately-held European specialty pharmas are systematically using U.S. acquisitions to acquire commercial infrastructure plus orphan-drug cash flows.
• Out-licensing of approved assets is back. Rigel's VEPPANU pickup signals a renewed willingness from larger players (Arvinas, Pfizer) to monetize approved but non-core launch assets. For mid-cap specialty buyers, these structured pickups can be more accretive than building a pipeline asset from scratch.

• Eli Lilly's historic surge. Lilly added $7.07 billion of Q1 pharma revenue year-over-year — climbing seven slots from 8th to 1st place at a 56% growth rate. Tirzepatide alone generated $12.822 billion in a single quarter, establishing it as the new global best-selling pharmaceutical product. The franchise is now larger in a single quarter than the full Q1 pharma revenue of four of the prior year's top 10 companies.
• Rise of the metabolic-sector leaders. Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk now occupy the #1 and #2 positions. Their combined GLP-1 contribution exceeds $23.5 billion in the quarter, making metabolic disease — not oncology, not immunology — the single largest growth engine of the global pharmaceutical industry in 2026. Sanofi's re-entry at #5, powered by Dupixent's $4.895 billion quarter, signals that single-blockbuster-led portfolios can still drive rank moves even outside the GLP-1 wave.
• Downturn of traditional industry giants. Pfizer (#2 → #8), Merck & Co. (#3 → #6), Johnson & Johnson (#1 → #4), and Novartis (#7 → #9) have all fallen multiple positions. Pfizer continues to absorb the COVID-19 revenue unwind while bracing for an LOE cliff; Merck faces decelerating Keytruda growth ahead of its own 2028 patent expiration; Novartis has watched Entresto revenue halve on generic entry. Most strikingly, AbbVie (#5 → out) and BMS (#10 → out) have fallen off the Top 10 entirely.

Within just one year, the balance of power in global pharma has visibly shifted. The GLP-1 metabolic franchise has replaced oncology and COVID-19 products as the industry's core growth driver. For incumbents, the Q1 2026 ranking carries a clear message: standing in the league table is increasingly determined by whether a company has secured a position in the next innovation wave. Traditional pharmaceutical giants risk further marginalization if strategic transformation — including the in-licensing and M&A activity profiled in Section 1, and the workforce and operating-model shifts implied throughout the rest of this issue — does not accelerate.

Two reads for dealmaking strategy. (1) The metabolic wave is far from over: expect intensifying competition for next-generation GLP-1, GIP, amylin, and combination assets — and watch for China-originated oral GLP-1 candidates as the next round of mega-deals. (2) The companies that fell are now the most motivated buyers: J&J, Pfizer, Merck, Novartis, AbbVie, and BMS each have explicit board-level mandates to backfill late-decade revenue gaps. That is precisely the dynamic driving the licensing volume covered in Section 1 — and the open BD&L seats highlighted on the Job Board.

Qilu Pharmaceutical — global out-licensing of innovative oncology pipeline

Qilu Pharmaceutical (China, top-3 domestic pharma) • Actively soliciting ex-China partners

Opportunity. 30+ innovative oncology programs from IND-stage through Phase III, spanning next-generation multi-specific antibodies, T-cell engagers, and proprietary ADC technologies. Company is explicitly seeking global partnerships and out-licensing transactions.

Signal. Qilu sits in the second-tier of Chinese pharma BD storytelling (behind Hengrui, Akeso, BeiGene) — but its multi-specific and ADC platforms map directly to the modality preferences expressed by big-pharma buyers. Likely target for one of the next major China-out announcements.

Instil Bio — actively evaluating in-licensing and acquisitions

Instil Bio (Nasdaq: TIL) • Stated intent disclosed on Q1 2026 earnings call (May 15, 2026)

Opportunity. Instil management announced on its Q1 2026 call that the company is "evaluating potential acquisitions and in-licensing" of novel therapeutic candidates as part of pipeline rebuilding following the wind-down of its lead TIL program.

Signal. Public signal from a mid-cap biotech with cash on hand and a clear mandate to deploy it. Asset partners with platforms that could be plugged into Instil's existing infrastructure (especially in immuno-oncology or cell-based therapies) may find a receptive audience.

Revvity — China Immunodiagnostics business divestiture

Revvity (NYSE: RVTY) • LOI signed April 16, 2026; definitive agreement expected Q2 2026; close in 2027

Opportunity. Revvity has entered a letter of intent with a prospective buyer for its China Immunodiagnostics business. The carve-out separates a regionally-concentrated diagnostics franchise from Revvity's life-sciences and discovery-focused core.

Signal. Carve-outs of China-localized franchises (where regulatory and reimbursement environments diverge from rest-of-world) are an emerging strategic pattern for U.S./EU tools and diagnostics companies. Watch for similar moves from peers seeking to simplify their China exposure.

Fortress Biotech / Cyprium — Rare Pediatric Disease PRV sale closed

Fortress Biotech (Nasdaq: FBIO) / Cyprium Therapeutics subsidiary • $205M PRV sale closed March 30, 2026

Opportunity. Fortress' subsidiary Cyprium Therapeutics monetized its Priority Review Voucher for $205M. Above-trend pricing relative to the $100–150M range typical of mid-2024 through early-2025 PRV transactions.

Signal. PRV prices are firming again after the post-IRA softness. Companies expecting near-term FDA accelerated/priority approvals in rare-pediatric indications should re-model the monetization assumption upward.

GSK — ex-China review rights on Sino Biopharm early-stage pipeline

GSK (NYSE: GSK) • Embedded in the May 11, 2026 bepirovirsen collaboration

Opportunity. As part of its China launch deal for bepirovirsen, GSK secured rights to review certain early-stage SBP Group pipeline assets for potential ex-China collaboration. Effectively a first-look option on a Chinese pipeline at zero upfront.

Signal. An under-utilized deal-architecture pattern: bolt-on "review rights" attached to a launch or commercial-services collaboration. For Chinese biotechs, this is a low-cost way to give a global partner a structured on-ramp; for buyers, it locks in optionality.

The following requests are circulating from active in-licensing teams. Each is a verified buyer-side ask with stated scope and stage criteria. Send qualifying program decks via reply or normal BD channels.

Buyer Want #1 — PIM1 / PIM3 small-molecule inhibitor

European or U.S. company (in-licensing) • Active search; preclinical through Phase I acceptable

Opportunity. Small-molecule inhibitor programs targeting PIM1 or PIM3. Programs from preclinical stage through Phase I clinical are all in-scope.

Signal. Broad stage window (preclinical → Phase I) indicates a strategic-rather-than-tactical search — buyer is willing to take development risk for an earlier-stage asset, suggesting platform or back-up program intent rather than late-stage launch acceleration.

Buyer Want #2 — Phase III oncology asset to anchor NASDAQ listing

U.S. biotech (investment-bank-backed; pre-IPO) • Urgent — IPO-driven timeline

Opportunity. Phase III clinical-stage asset to in-license as the anchor program for a NASDAQ listing. Strong preference for oncology small-molecule or ADC programs. Colorectal cancer (CRC) or other major / common tumor types preferred; lung cancer programs are explicitly not preferred.

Signal. Classic "reverse-listing-style" buyer: an investment-bank-backed shell looking for a Phase III asset to drive an IPO narrative. These transactions often close at attractive economics for the seller (because the buyer's value is in the listing vehicle, not the cash), and they move fast.

Buyer Want #3 — CDH17-targeting ADC, Phase I+ with efficacy data

European or U.S. company (in-licensing) • Active search; Phase I or later with efficacy data required

Opportunity. CDH17-targeting antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) program. Asset must be in Phase I clinical development or later and must have generated efficacy data.

Signal. CDH17 is one of the highest-demand GI-cancer ADC targets of 2026 (alongside CLDN18.2 and B7-H4). The strict "efficacy data required" gate signals the buyer is shopping for a near-clinical-validation asset — likely a Phase II- or pivotal-readiness candidate to plug an immediate pipeline gap.

• Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). Still the #1 most-traded modality of 2026. Premium pricing persists for HER2-low/HER2-zero, TROP2-next-gen, and CDH6/B7-H4 assets; Chinese ADC platforms (Kelun-Biotech, RemeGen, LaNova, Sichuan Biokin) continue to anchor cross-border deal flow.
• T-cell engagers (TCEs) for autoimmune. UCB-Candid validates the thesis. Targets in active partnering discussion: CD19 × CD3 for SLE/myasthenia gravis, BCMA × CD3 for plasma-cell-driven autoimmune disease, CD20 × CD3 for rheumatology indications.
• Next-gen oral GLP-1 / dual-agonist. With injectable saturation increasing and AstraZeneca's CSPC partnership establishing the $18.5B precedent (that asset is a once-monthly injectable GLP-1/GIP), additional China-origin oral GLP-1 / GIP / amylin programs are expected to come to market in 2H 2026.
• Pan-KRAS and broader RAS-family small molecules. AbbVie-Kestrel highlights that the field's appetite is shifting from KRAS G12C/G12D mutant-specific to pan-KRAS and pan-RAS. Expect at least two more options/licensing announcements in this space over the summer.
• Heterobifunctional degraders (PROTACs, molecular glues). Rigel's VEPPANU pickup demonstrates that the modality can produce approved drugs with monetizable launches. Look for additional ER, AR, BCL6, and IRAK4 degrader deals.

For BD&L teams: each entry above is a tracked workstream — Qilu and Instil are partnering-side signals (someone is buying), Revvity is a sell-side signal (someone is selling), Fortress is a pricing benchmark, and the GSK-Sino structure is a deal-architecture template worth cloning. For investors and analysts: each represents a near-term catalyst worth monitoring in the next 1–2 quarterly cycles.

BioLink Weekly — Section 4, BD&L Opportunity Board. Prepared May 16, 2026. Buyer and fund mandates are summarized from direct briefings and public sources; details may evolve prior to execution. BioLink does not represent any named party unless explicitly stated.