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Metabolic medicines proceed to be one of many hottest areas for drug analysis, so it ought to come as no shock that deal circulation for weight problems and diabetes medication was a specific spotlight of biopharma exercise in 2025.
In complete, 19 weight problems and diabetes drug R&D partnerships had been struck final 12 months, based on J.P. Morgan’s This autumn 2025 Biopharma Licensing and Enterprise Report. Whereas that complete is 10 fewer than in 2024, the greenback quantities skyrocketed. These 19 offers represented $20.2 billion in complete deal worth in comparison with $8.4 billion in 2024, setting a brand new document excessive. Regardless of fewer offers than the prior 12 months, J.P. Morgan mentioned these transactions generated larger mixture deal values, highlighting an elevated strategic deal with metabolic illness.
The sector of weight problems drug R&D continues to increase past GLP-1 to extra targets, such because the GIP receptor. J.P. Morgan counted 5 R&D partnerships for GLP-1 and GIP applications final 12 months representing $10.7 billion in complete deal worth. In 2024, the financial institution reported 11 such offers representing $9.1 billion in complete deal worth. A lot of final 12 months’s offers got here with nine-figure upfront funds.
One other key 2025 pattern was the licensing of property from China-based biotech firms. J.P. Morgan counted 16 of those offers with a minimum of $50 million paid up entrance. In 2024, the financial institution counted 10 such offers.
Enterprise capital funding was down final 12 months. J.P. Morgan counted $25.6 billion invested throughout 413 offers in 2025, in comparison with $27.8 billion invested throughout 461 offers in 2024. The investments final 12 months favored firms with superior therapeutic pipelines with near-term medical and industrial potential, the financial institution mentioned. J.P. Morgan counted simply 9 IPOs that raised $1.6 billion in 2025, down from 19 IPOs and $3.8 billion raised within the prior 12 months. By and enormous, biotech firms searching for methods to help their pipelines turned to M&A or licensing offers.
M&A exercise final 12 months was stronger than in 2024, pushed by a number of multi-billion-dollar transactions, J.P. Morgan mentioned. A complete of 129 offers totaled $116.3 billion in 2025, based on the report. As examples, the report singled out Novartis’s $12 billion acquisition of RNA therapies biotech Avidity Biosciences, Merck’s $9.2 billion buyout of influenza drug developer Cidara, and Novo Nordisk’s $4.7 billion acquisition of metabolic medicines developer Akero Therapeutics.
These three offers all occurred within the fourth quarter, reflecting the rise of dealmaking within the later a part of the 12 months. The information within the report are as of Dec. 15, 2025, so that they miss some massive transactions that closed out the 12 months. Within the week main as much as Christmas, BioMarin Prescribed drugs agreed to purchase uncommon illness drug developer Amicus Therapeutics for $4.8 billion. Days later, Sanofi struck a $2.2 billion deal to purchase vaccines developer Dynavax Applied sciences.
Picture: Mike Kemp/In Photos, by way of Getty Photographs
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