Pfizer Inc.’s $11.6 billion deal for migraine specialist Biohaven Pharmaceutical has kindled expectations on Wall Street that the transaction may usher in more buyouts as cash-flush drugmakers look to snap up beaten-down smaller biotechs.

Amphista Therapeutics forged two significant protein degradation partnerships with big pharma. On May 4, the U.K.-based company announced partnerships with both Bristol Myers Squibb and Merck KGaA that have a combined value of more than $2 billion.

Sanofi

Paris-based Sanofi and Mountain View, California-based IGM Biosciences inked a collaboration deal for oncology, immunology and inflammation that could surpass $6 billion.

Hot off the heels of the company’s milestone approval for the unique checkpoint inhibitor Opdualag, Bristol Myers Squibb forged an oncology drug discovery and development deal valued at more than $1 billion with Volastra Therapeutics.

Anthem Inc. intends to change its name to Elevance Health Inc., as the company looks to shift its focus beyond the health insurance business.

Illumina Inc. faces yet another setback from regulatory officials regarding the company’s $8 billion acquisition of GRAIL Inc. as the European Commission provided an update.

AbbVie bolstered the company’s neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative portfolio with the acquisition of Belgium-based Syndesi Therapeutics in a deal valued at up to $1 billion. 

Federal Trade Commission

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said on February 17 that the FTC would file a lawsuit aimed at stopping the merger of Rhode Island’s two largest health care providers, Lifespan Corp. and Care New England Health System.

Britain’s GSK forecast growth in 2022 after racking up 1.4 billion pounds ($1.9 billion) in COVID-related sales in 2021, beating quarterly forecasts in the company’s first earnings report since rejecting Unilever’s bid for GlaxoSmithKline’s consumer arm.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has hit companies unevenly, some biopharma firms that have produced new drugs or vaccines against the disease have shown big spikes in drug sales. BioSpace reviewed five companies that produced non-vaccine treatments for COVID-19.