Life sciences dealmaking volume is stable, but value is down. The 2025 edition of the EY Firepower report explores how life sciences companies can secure a more confident future with smarter, smaller deals.
Key takeaways from the EY 2025 Firepower analysis:
2024: A reset year? Deal value fell in 2024, as life sciences companies turned away from the major M&A plays of 2023 to focus on bolt-ons and other smaller strategic plays.
Deal or no deal? Drivers and restraints in 2025. The industry still faces significant growth gaps, has significant M&A Firepower and is expecting policy…
RSM UK’s co-leads of life sciences, Laragh Jeanroy and Graham Bond, highlight three key themes dominating the sector in 2025:
Tighter fundingThe value of private equity (PE) buyouts in the UK life sciences sector jumped from £778m in 2023 to £5.3bn in 2024, according to Pitchbook. However, the number of deals has remained fairly steady over the years, increasing from 10 in 2023 to 13 in 2024. A large proportion of PE and venture capital investment in the sector focused on traditional pharmaceuticals last year.
Laragh Jeanroy said: “High interest rates over the past year, and therefore, the…
Cancer Research UK, Cytovation and the Norwegian Cancer Society have signed an agreement to bring Cytovation’s lead asset, CY-101, into a multi-national Phase 2 clinical trial for patients with adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC).
This rare and aggressive cancer, which affects the adrenal glands, has limited treatment options and an urgent need for new therapies.
CY-101, developed by Cytovation, is a synthetic peptide with a dual function. It selectively targets and destroys cancer cells, triggering a systemic immune response, while simultaneously inhibiting the Wnt/β-catenin signalling pathway,…
London, January 23, 2025 – Coulter Partners, the global expert building leadership teams for Health, Science and Technology innovation businesses, successfully completed a search assignment for NeoPhore Limited and is pleased to announce the placement of Michael Shih as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Board of Director.NeoPhore, a small molecule neoantigen immuno-oncology company, is developing a pipeline of highly validated, first-in-class small molecule drugs targeting proteins across the DNA mismatch repair (MMR) pathway to improve the efficacy and durability of revolutionary…
https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/01/22/3013431/0/en/Cond…
Conduit Pharmaceuticals Partners with Agility Life Sciences to Create Enhanced Formulations for its Autoimmune Pipeline
• Award winning Agility Life Sciences brings a proven track record in drug formulation for a number of pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients.
NAPLES, FL and CAMBRIDGE, UK, January 22, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Conduit Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: CDT) (“Conduit” or the “Company”), today announced that it has entered into a strategic services agreement with formulation development CDMO Agility Life…
Cambridge, UK, 20 January 2025: Metrion Biosciences (“Metrion”), the specialist preclinical contract research organisation (CRO) and a leader in ion channel screening, today announced it has been listed in The Sunday Times 100 Tech, Britain's fastest-growing private technology companies. The inaugural feature, published 19th January, highlights the UK’s fastest-growing private companies developing or selling unique, proprietary technologies, and is backed by Singer Capital Markets, HSBC Innovation Banking and BDO.
Metrion provides preclinical drug discovery services to a growing network…
• £500K grant to advance discovery and development of effective precision antibiotics targeting antimicrobial-resistant lung infections in people with cystic fibrosis
• Programme delivered by CF AMR Syndicate offers cross-sector collaboration and support to address urgent unmet need
Glasgow, UK, 21 January 2025: Glox Therapeutics, a company pioneering the development of precision antibiotic therapies based on naturally occurring bacteriocins, today announced it has been awarded a share of the £3 million Collaborative Discovery Programme (CDP) launched by the Cystic Fibrosis Antimicrobial…
Pioneer Group, the life science infrastructure and venture building specialist, has joined forces with Innovate UK, The Medical Research Council (MRC) and AstraZeneca, to deliver the AI in Health Accelerator 2024/2025 Programme.
The Accelerator is designed to help entrepreneurs confidently market their AI-driven healthcare solutions and accelerate novel technology development time to market. The partners will collaborate across all elements of the Accelerator Programme, including its design and operation.
Ayokunmi Ajetunmobi, Head of Ventures at Pioneer, explains the rationale behind the…
Starting something new is hard – particularly within the fast-moving life science sector. Step forward Accelerate@Babraham, the Babraham Research Campus’ bio-incubator, founded out of a desire to support and nurture early-stage ventures; bringing to bear an unrivalled network of experts, mentors and investors and data-driven, comprehensive business analysis and support to equip these young enterprises with the skills, confidence and network connections to enable success.
Now in our seventh year, Accelerate@Babraham companies have raised £72.5m, have a current portfolio value estimated at over…
A state-of-the-art food and drink incubator that will house pioneering future food and beverage businesses is set to open at Colworth Science Park in Bedford in the heart of the UK’s ‘Golden Triangle.’
‘Gastronomica’ is the brainchild of Pioneer Group, which specialises in life science infrastructure and venture-building. The incubator is being created through a cooperation between Pioneer and Unilever. Colworth Science Park is home to one of Unilever’s Global R&D Innovation Centres, as well as other businesses pioneering future food and drink developments including DSM-Firmenich, Symrise…