About this episode

The episode discusses recent M&A activity in biopharma, FDA regulatory updates, and leadership changes at Sanofi.

This year has been partly defined by a return to M&A. In the first quarter of 2026, biopharma spent nearly $47 billion in acquisitions across 19 deals, and this week, AbbVie notched another one for the second quarter, scooping up Apogee Therapeutics and its IL-23 blocker for atopic dermatitis for around $10.9 billion. The deal follows GSK’s $10.6 billion Nuvalent Bio acquisition earlier this month. These deals come as several big pharmas face patent cliffs. Sanofi, for example, will lose patent protection on Dupixent in 2031. New CEO Belén Garijo made a major play to build out Sanofi’s pipeline this week, announcing that Xaira veteran Paulo Fontoura will step in as R&D chief as Houman Ashrafian exits. Another key trend over the past 18 months has been regulatory uncertainty . This trend continues, with both uniQure and REGENXBIO announcing FDA reversals for their gene therapies for Huntington’s disease and Hunter syndrome, respectively. Both companies will submit for approval of their products—a first submission for uniQure and a resubmission for REGENXBIO—in the third quarter, after the agency, under the leadership of acting commissioner Kyle Diamantas, deemed their…

People in this episode

Host: BioSpace

Topics covered

• M&A in biopharma
• FDA regulatory updates
• biopharma acquisitions
• Sanofi leadership changes
• gene therapy approvals
• biopharma market trends

Keywords

• biopharma
• M&A
• FDA
• gene therapy
• Sanofi
• acquisitions
• regulatory uncertainty

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: AbbVie, Apogee Therapeutics, GSK, Nuvalent Bio, Sanofi, uniQure, REGENXBIO, FDA

Products: IL-23 blocker, Dupixent, Huntington’s disease, Hunter syndrome, Tzield

More episodes of BioSpace

• The future of pain relief: Exploring opioid alternatives · July 16, 2026 · 19 min
• Biogen validates anti-tau approach at AAIC, psychedelics full speed ahead, ATTR-CM shakeup · July 15, 2026 · 21 min
• Bonus: Q2 2026 Job Market Update · July 14, 2026 · 9 min
• From sequence to scale: Gene editing’s new era in biologics manufacturing · July 10, 2026 · 21 min
• Vertex carries M&A uptick into H2, IPOs and VC raises also grow, FDA on pace despite turmoil · July 8, 2026 · 17 min
• Sentiment at BIO soars as FDA resets, dealmaking evolves; Amgen’s Tavneos in hot water · July 1, 2026 · 23 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the BioSpace podcast page.