Metabolic medicines proceed to be one of many hottest areas for drug analysis, so it ought to come as no shock that deal stream for weight problems and diabetes medication was a specific spotlight of biopharma exercise in 2025.
In whole, 19 weight problems and diabetes drug R&D partnerships had been struck final yr, in response to J.P. Morgan’s This fall 2025 Biopharma Licensing and Enterprise Report. Whereas that whole is 10 fewer than in 2024, the greenback quantities skyrocketed. These 19 offers represented $20.2 billion in whole deal worth in comparison with $8.4 billion in 2024, setting a brand new document excessive. Regardless of fewer offers than the prior yr, J.P. Morgan stated these transactions generated larger mixture deal values, highlighting an elevated strategic concentrate on metabolic illness.
The sector of weight problems drug R&D continues to develop past GLP-1 to extra targets, such because the GIP receptor. J.P. Morgan counted 5 R&D partnerships for GLP-1 and GIP applications final yr representing $10.7 billion in whole deal worth. In 2024, the financial institution reported 11 such offers representing $9.1 billion in whole deal worth. A lot of final yr’s offers got here with nine-figure upfront funds.
One other key 2025 development was the licensing of belongings from China-based biotech firms. J.P. Morgan counted 16 of those offers with at the least $50 million paid up entrance. In 2024, the financial institution counted 10 such offers.
Enterprise capital funding was down final yr. J.P. Morgan counted $25.6 billion invested throughout 413 offers in 2025, in comparison with $27.8 billion invested throughout 461 offers in 2024. The investments final yr favored firms with superior therapeutic pipelines with near-term scientific and industrial potential, the financial institution stated. J.P. Morgan counted simply 9 IPOs that raised $1.6 billion in 2025, down from 19 IPOs and $3.8 billion raised within the prior yr. By and huge, biotech firms in search of methods to assist their pipelines turned to M&A or licensing offers.
M&A exercise final yr was stronger than in 2024, pushed by a number of multi-billion-dollar transactions, J.P. Morgan stated. A complete of 129 offers totaled $116.3 billion in 2025, in response to the report. As examples, the report singled out Novartis’s $12 billion acquisition of RNA therapies biotech Avidity Biosciences, Merck’s $9.2 billion buyout of influenza drug developer Cidaraand Novo Nordisk’s $4.7 billion acquisition of metabolic medicines developer Akero Therapeutics.
These three offers all occurred within the fourth quarter, reflecting the rise of dealmaking within the later a part of the yr. The information within the report are as of Dec. 15, 2025, so that they miss some massive transactions that closed out the yr. Within the week main as much as Christmas, BioMarin Prescription drugs agreed to purchase uncommon illness drug developer Amicus Therapeutics for $4.8 billion. Days later, Sanofi struck a $2.2 billion deal to purchase vaccines developer Dynavax Applied sciences.
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