Ropes & Gray Guides Up to $10.1 Billion in Life Sciences Licensing & M&A Deals Over Two Weeks

During the last two weeks, Ropes & Gray has guided five significant life sciences licensing and M&A deals, with a total maximum value of $10.1 billion. The transactions underscore the strength of Ropes & Gray’s award-winning global life sciences licensing, collaboration, joint ventures and M&A team, which is renowned for its work guiding clients in structuring and negotiating all forms of complex agreements. The team’s recent accomplishments include among others:

Novo Nordisk in an exclusive license agreement valued at up to $2 billion with China-based United Laboratories International Holdings Limited and its wholly-owned subsidiary United Bio-Technology (Hengqin) Co. Ltd. for the rights to United Biotechnology’s UBT251, a drug in clinical development for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes, obesity and other diseases. The team included life sciences licensing partner Hannah England and life sciences licensing associate Ryan Kramer.

Novo Nordisk in an exclusive license agreement valued up to $1 billion with Lexicon Pharmaceuticals for LX9851, a first-in-class oral drug candidate for obesity and related metabolic disorders. The team included Hannah England and life sciences licensing associate Ian Nilsen.

Sanofi in an agreement worth up to $1.9 billion to acquire Dren Bio’s deep B-cell depleter program, DR-0201. The targeted bispecific myeloid cell engager has the potential to reset the adaptive immune system and might lead to sustained treatment-free remission in patients with refractory B-cell mediated autoimmune diseases such as lupus, where significant unmet medical needs exist. The team was led by life sciences licensing partner Abigail Gregor, mergers & acquisitions partner Matt Byron and IP transaction associate Dan Freshman and included tax partner Scott Pinarchick, employment & benefits partner Renata Ferrari and IP transactions counsel Joshua Talicska, and IP transactions associate Giancarlo Lee.

Black Diamond Therapeutics in a global licensing agreement with French pharmaceutical company Servier for the development and commercialization of BDTX-4933, a therapy designed to target RAS and RAF alterations in solid tumors. The collaboration valued up to $780 million aims to advance the asset across multiple indications, including non-small cell lung cancer and other solid tumors. The team was led by life sciences licensing partner Abigail Gregor, and included litigation & enforcement partner Lisa Kaltenbrunner and litigation & enforcement associate Vincenzo Volpe.

A multinational pharmaceutical company in a strategic transaction with a Chinese biotechnology company to develop potential first-in-class peptide therapeutics worth up to $3.5 billion. The team was led by life sciences licensing partner Hannah England, M&A partner Matt Byron and life sciences licensing associate Ryan Kramer.