Dispatches From JPM, Biogen’s Sage Buyout Offer, Pfizer’s Obesity Play, More

The J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference kicked off Monday with a flood of high-value deals, reinvigorating sentiment across the biopharma industry. Johnson & Johnson made the biggest splash, acquiring neurology leader Intra-Cellular Therapies for $14.6 billion, while GSK picked up precision therapy specialist IDRx for $1B upfront and Eli Lilly laid down up to $2.5 billion for Scorpion’s PI3Kα inhibitor program. Meanwhile, the immunology and inflammation space continues to fire on all cylinders as Gilead invests up to $1.7 billion for LEO Pharma’s preclinical oral small molecule STAT6 program. And those are only the deals accepted by both parties. Prior to the conference, Biogen offered to acquire its struggling neuro partner Sage Therapeutics for around $469M. The proposal follows a catastrophic run for Sage, which has seen its shares fall more than 90% in the past two years. 2024 sales and earnings forecasts have also generated attention this week, with Sarepta reporting that Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene therapy Elevidys beat analysts’ expectations in the fourth quarter, and Eli Lilly projecting a full-year revenue miss driven largely by lower-than-expected sales of GLP-1 blockbusters Zepbound and Mounjaro. As expected, obesity has been a hot topic at JPM, with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla announcing that his company is going “all in” in the space. This follows new FDA guidance revealed last week recommending a minimum weight loss threshold for drug developers. Among the many companies taking notice is newcomer Verdiva Bio, which launched last week with more than $410 million in opening funds. Also debuting last week was Kardigan, which raised $300 million to tackle heart disease. Kadigan joins a resurgent cardiovascular space, where several companies—including those developing gene therapies—are targeting myriad diseases. Finally, BioSpace senior editor Annalee Armstrong caught up with Daphne Zohar, CEO of BioSpace NextGen 2025 company Seaport Therapeutics Daphne Zohar, who offered her thoughts on the current state of the neuropsychiatric space.