The year has gotten off to a warm start, though not quite red hot, when it comes to
biopharma merger-and-acquisition (M&A) deals.
Market watchers rang in 2026 expecting the value and number of biopharma M&A deals to accelerate. Indeed Merck & Co.’s Chair and CEO Rob Davis generated buzz at the recent J.P. Morgan 44th Annual Healthcare Conference when he spoke freely about the pharma giant’s interest in big-dollar M&A. When J.P. Morgan Chase analyst Christopher Schott asked Davis what size deals would make Merck comfortable, the chief executive replied: “I would say we’re multi-tens of billions of dollars.”
But as of deadline on February 13, the deals have been below that 10-figure range, which is associated with “blockbuster” M&A. Eli Lilly alone accounted for two buyouts in the first six weeks of this year, agreeing to buy Ventyx Biosciences for $1.2 billion and Orna Therapeutics for up to $2.4 billion. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in January committed $2.2 billion to acquire Rapt Therapeutics, the inflammatory and immunologic disease drug developer, while Amgen shelled out up to $840 million to buy privately held Dark Blue Therapeutics, a U.K.-based developer of small molecule-targeted protein degraders to treat cancer.
As for Merck, it reportedly walked away from a roughly $30 billion buyout of Revolution Medicines after the companies failed to come to terms on a price, though neither company has confirmed that.
However, Revolution has generated enough speculation among analysts, investors and other market watchers that it is among the 10 companies highlighted in this year’s edition of GEN’s annual A-List of 10 biopharma companies seen as buyout targets in recent months. This A-List is based on notes to investors and comments in news outlets. For each company mentioned, the list explains where talk of acquisition has surfaced, and why, as well as where their primary stocks are traded.
Since first published in 2013, GEN’s annual A-Lists of top takeover targets have pinpointed some companies just before they were acquired. The 2025 A-List included Blueprint Medicines, which found a buyer when Sanofi spent up to $9.5 billion to buy the company in a deal completed last July. The 2024 A-List also featured one company that has since been bought out by a biopharma giant: Intra-Cellular Therapies (by Johnson & Johnson last year for $14.6 billion).
The J&J-ICT deal was the largest of 2025, a year that saw the dollar value of biopharma M&A deals more than double year-over-year to $116.3 billion from $51.6 billion, even as the number of deals barely budged, inching up to 129 from 128 in 2024, according to J.P.. Morgan and DealForma.
For what it’s worth, three companies on the initial 2013 list have since found buyers: Ariad Pharmaceuticals (by Takeda Pharmaceutical in 2017 for $5.2 billion), Medivation (by Pfizer in 2016 for $14 billion), and Seattle Genetics (which renamed itself Seagen before Pfizer bought the company in 2023 for $43 billion).
This year marks the first takeover targets A-List GEN has ever published that does not include BioMarin Pharmaceutical among the top 10. The rare genetic disease drug developer appears to have shifted its approach to M&A under Alexander Hardy, who became president and CEO in December 2023, to one of buying companies rather than looking to be bought. Last year BioMarin spent approximately $270 million to acquire Inozyme in a deal completed last July—followed in December by its agreeing to purchase Amicus Therapeutics for $4.8 billion, a transaction expected to close in the second quarter.
Abivax (Euronext Paris: ABVX) 1
The Paris-based developer of oral, small-molecule drugs targeting microRNA-124 to treat chronic inflammatory diseases has become the most talked-about biotech takeover target since the summer, when it reported dazzling Phase III data surpassing company expectations for lead pipeline candidate obefazimod, an oral ulcerative colitis treatment. Abivax’s stock surged an eye-popping 1,700% last year: “There is no doubt this drug is special. It’s going to be a blockbuster,” CEO Marc de Garidel told GEN in July 2025. Wall Street largely agrees: “We view ABVX as a compelling play in a commercially de-risked market, a potential take-out darling with strategic appeal, and upside to broader I&I [immunology and inflammation] indication optionality beyond Ulicerative Colitis/Crohn’s Disease.,” Gregory Renza, MD (Truist Securities) wrote in November. A month later, a survey by the firm showed 44% of investors citing Abivax as a buyout candidate. In January, French news outlet La Lettre reported that Eli Lilly was pursuing a potential €15 billion ($17.4 billion) Abivax acquisition—but France’s finance ministry denied to Reuters having any contact with Lilly, which declined comment.
Celcuity (NASDAQ: CELC)
The cancer drug developer drew close attention in November from Kalpit Patel (Wolfe Research). In addition to initiating coverage of Celcuity’s stock with an Outperform rating and $110 price target, Patel concluded that Celcuity represented “a top-tier acquisition opportunity for big pharma” that was “primed to deliver next year” on key clinical data. Celcuity expects a Q1 or Q2 data readout from the cohort of its Phase III VIKTORIA-1 trial (NCT05501886) assessing lead candidate gedatolisib plus fulvestrant with and without palbociclib in adults with hormone receptor (HR)-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative, PIK3CA mutant tumors, locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer, following progression on or after treatment with a CDK4/6 inhibitor and an aromatase inhibitor. In December, Celcuity presented positive data for the trial’s PIK3CA wild-type cohort showing median progression-free survival (PFS) of 12.4 months for gedatolisib-palbociclib-fulvestrant; 10.0 months for gedatolisib-fulvestrant; and just 1.9 months for fulvestrant alone.
Inventiva (Euronext Paris: IVA) 2
Shares of Daix, France-based Inventiva surged more than 75% in the six months ending February 12 on speculation that later this year, the oral small molecule developer focused on fibrosis, lysosomal storage disorders and oncology will release Phase III data for its lead candidate lanifibranor in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) that will show potentially the best efficacy to date. “Flag IVA as binary play with high takeout potential on Ph3 data 2H26E,” Lucy Codrington, MBChB (Jefferies) wrote on February 2. Five months earlier in September, Ananda Ghosh (H.C. Wainwright) pegged Inventiva as a takeover target, declaring that lanifibranor “stands out” as the only pan- peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) agonist in Phase III that had already shown dual histologic benefit in Phase IIb studies, where it reduced both liver fibrosis and inflammation while simultaneously improving metabolic health, such as insulin sensitivity and lipid profiles.
MapLight Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: MPLT)
The drug developer focused on neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders has built what Andrew Tsai (Jefferies) calls an intriguing pipeline led by the oral M1/M4 agonist ML-007C-MA, set to read out Phase II data in schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) psychosis this year and in 2027. “ML-007’s program success could attract Big Pharma attention,” Tsai wrote in November. The following month, he said MapLight was among potential beneficiaries of a recent Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) clinical setback: BMS delayed to year-end 2026 its data readout from the Phase III ADEPT-2 trial (NCT06126224) assessing Cobenfy
(xanomeline and trospium chloride) in AD psychosis, opting to add more patients to the study after citing “irregularities” linked to the execution of the trial “at a small number of study sites.” In October, MapLight completed a successful initial public offering (IPO), raising $269.8 million in net proceeds from selling 17,439,207 shares at $17 per share.
Qiagen (NYSE: QGEN; Frankfurt Stock Exchange: QIA) 3
The provider of biotech workflow solutions (officially based in Venlo, The Netherlands with operative HQ in Hilden, Germany) saw its stock price return to the $50 per-share range following three years of mostly lumbering between the high $30s and mid $40s, after Bloomberg News reported that Qiagen was evaluating strategic options that include a potential sale—a report attributed to unnamed sources—amid fresh interest from would-be buyers in acquiring the company. While Qiagen has declined to comment, “This potential sale does not come as a surprise to investors, as the company has long been viewed as a takeout candidate,” wrote Casey Woodring (J.P. Morgan). Indeed Thermo Fisher offered to acquire Qiagen in 2020, but the offer was terminated five months later. Bio-Rad Laboratories reportedly pursued a buyout deal in 2022. “We see potential strategic interest from several scaled tools companies given prior passes from TMO and BIO,” Tycho Peterson (Jefferies) wrote in January, without naming them: “Now more than ever, a deal makes sense, in our view.”
Revolution Medicines (NASDAQ: RVMD)
The developer of RAS-addicted cancer therapies appears to have attracted several would-be suitors in recent months. AbbVie flatly denied being one of them, while Merck & Co. never commented on news reports it tried to buy Revolution but gave up. “The two couldn’t come to an agreement on price,” according to unnamed sources cited by The Wall Street Journal, which reported that the companies discussed a deal in the $30 billion range. Behind buyers’ interest is Revolution’s clinical and preclinical pipeline of RAS(ON) inhibitors led by daraxonrasib, which is in four Phase III trials—three in forms of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and one in locally advanced or metastatic RAS mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Daraxonrasib is poised to become the new standard of care in RAS-mutated advanced pancreatic cancer, Sean McCutcheon (Raymond James) wrote in September.
Structure Therapeutics (NASDAQ: GPCR)
The developer of oral small molecule drugs for chronic metabolic and pulmonary diseases draws investor interest from being in the popular obesity segment. Structure’s lead candidate aleniglipron, a selective GLP-1 receptor agonist, is set to advance to a Phase III trial in mid-2026 after reporting positive data in December from the Phase IIb ACCESS (NCT06693843) and ACCESS II (NCT06703021) trials showing placebo-adjusted weight loss after 36 weeks of 11.3% (27.3 lbs) with the 120 mg dose and up to 15.3% (35.5 lbs) with the 240 mg dose. Structure’s shares more than doubled on the news—with Andy T. Hsieh, PhD (William Blair) reporting that the surge was “likely driven by the M&A prospect” and “large market opportunity,” plus speculation about aleniglipron gaining FDA approval after Novo Nordisk’s oral Wegovy® (semaglutide), approved in December, and Eli Lilly’s orfoglipron, under review with an April 10 target decision date.
Terns Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: TERN)
At the American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual meeting in December, the small molecule cancer drug developer presented what Andy T. Hsieh, PhD (William Blair) called unprecedented positive results for its oral, allosteric BCR-ABL inhibitor candidate TERN-701 in third-line or later chronic myeloid leukemia (CML): “We have increasing conviction that TERN-701 has the potential to effectively challenge [Novartis-marketed] Scemblix[® (asciminib)]’s market dominance across the CML disease spectrum” and its total addressable market of about $5 billion, Hsieh wrote in December, in a research note headlined in part: “Will TERN-701’s differentiated Data Turn Into a Big Pharma Bidding War?” It’s a question he suggested can be answered in the affirmative: “We believe Terns’ M&A prospect has increased considerably given the best-in-disease profile.”
Travere Therapeutics (NASDAQ: TVTX)
The rare disease drug developer generated talk from investors as a takeover target based on the expectation of quick FDA approval for its supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) seeking to expand the label of Filspari® (sparsentan) to focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) in addition to the current indication of adults with primary IgA nephropathy. Yet even after the FDA extended its review of Filspari to April 13, citing a “major amendment” to the sNDA from responses Travere furnished about the drug’s clinical benefit in FSGS at the agency’s request, Maury Raycroft, PhD (Jefferies) still included the sNDA approval on his list of “events expected to occur or could occur through Q1’26”—resulting in “very high impact (>30%)” for the stock, which soared 77% in the six months ending February 11 based in part on the takeover talk.
Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ: VKTX)
Viking’s development of VK2735, an obesity candidate that targets both glucagon-like peptide 1 GLP-1 and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) receptors, is far enough along at Phase III to earn the company a second consecutive year among GEN’s top takeover targets. Another reason Viking should be attractive to would-be buyers is its valuation ($3.3 billion market cap), which one analyst considers a bargain: “We believe shares of Viking are significantly undervalued given the value attributed to Metsera ($10B final take-out bid) and the more advanced nature of Viking’s obesity pipeline,” Edward Nash (Canaccord Genuity) wrote in November. Data published in January from the Phase II VENTURE trial (NCT06068946) showed VK2735 treatment resulting in weight loss of up to 14.7% after 13 weeks.
References
1. Abivax also trades American Depositary Shares on NASDAQ under the same symbol, ABVX.
2. Inventiva also trades American Depositary Shares on NASDAQ under the same symbol, IVA.
3. Structure Therapeutics’ shares traded on NASDAQ are American Depositary Shares.
The post Top 10 Takeover Targets of 2026 appeared first on GEN – Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News.
