Biogen BIIB announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire San Diego-based privately held biotech RayThera Inc. for up to $1 billion. The deal includes an undisclosed upfront payment to RayThera's shareholders and additional payments tied to the achievement of certain clinical and regulatory milestones.
The transaction is expected to be closed in the third quarter of 2026, subject to customary closing conditions.
Biogen's proposed acquisition of RayThera will add several anti-inflammatory candidates to its pipeline, including a lead asset that is expected to enter phase I development in early third quarter 2026. These candidates are being developed as potential treatments for immune-mediated diseases across multiple indications.
BIIB’s Price Performance
Year to date, shares of Biogen have rallied 12.9% against the industry’s decline of 0.9%.
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BIIB’s Recent Acquisition Deal
The acquisition of RayThera is expected to strengthen BIIB’s immunology pipeline by adding a portfolio of anti-inflammatory candidates.
The latest deal comes on the heels of Biogen’s recent acquisition of Apellis, which added two differentiated commercialized immunology medicines, Empaveli (pegcetacoplan) and Syfovre (pegcetacoplan injection), to its commercial portfolio.
Such acquisitions highlight the continued interest among large drugmakers in bolstering their pipelines through targeted acquisitions of promising clinical-stage biotechnology companies.
Biotech, Pharma on a M&A Spree
The biotech and pharma sector is seeing strong merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in 2026, with deals accelerating in recent times.
The recent surge in dealmaking underscores the industry’s broader focus on portfolio expansion and continuous pipeline innovation, alongside a growing emphasis on AI-driven drug discovery. Oncology and immuno-oncology companies have always been at the top of acquisition targets.
So far in 2026, Eli Lilly LLY has announced six proposed acquisitions — Centessa Pharmaceuticals, Ajax Therapeutics, Kelonia Therapeutics, Orna Therapeutics, CrossBridge Bio and Ventyx Biosciences — to diversify beyond its GLP-1 franchise and strengthen its pipeline in oncology, neuroscience, RNA and cell therapies.
LLY also agreed to acquire three private vaccine developers in May 2026, adding programs targeting shingles, bacterial infections and Epstein-Barr virus. The company also announced several M&A deals in 2025.
Earlier this month, GSK plc GSK announced that it will acquire clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Nuvalent for $10.6 billion, gaining three lung cancer assets, including late-stage ROS1 inhibitor zidesamtinib and ALK inhibitor neladalkib, both under FDA review.
The deal strengthens GSK’s oncology pipeline, expands its presence in lung cancer, and is expected to contribute to sales and operating profit growth beginning in 2027.
GSK earlier acquired RAPT Therapeutics to strengthen its immunology pipeline. The company also bought 35Pharma, adding HS235, a potential best-in-class therapy for pulmonary hypertension.
Merck MRK recently completed the acquisition of California-based cancer biotech, Terns Pharmaceuticals. The acquisition added TERN-701, an investigational oral allosteric BCR::ABL1 tyrosine kinase inhibitor, to Merck’s hematology/cancer pipeline.
Merck acquired Verona Pharma in 2025 and Cidara Therapeutics in early 2026, which likely strengthened its respiratory and infectious disease portfolios.
Several large pharmaceutical companies, including Novartis, Gilead Sciences and Johnson & Johnson, have been actively pursuing targeted acquisitions of clinical-stage biotech firms to strengthen their pipelines and drive long-term growth.
BIIB’s Zacks Rank
Biogen currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).