Experts discuss how biopharma partnerships are evolving, as companies look beyond transactional supplier relationships toward more integrated, strategic, and collaborative models The best partnerships are not just financial transactions. They help determine whether a product can deliver meaningful clinical benefit, fit the realities of healthcare delivery, and create value that supports adoption. ... The most consequential shift is geographic. Chinese biotechs have become a primary source of licensed assets, particularly in ADCs and increasingly in others (e.g., metabolic disease, CNS, and autoimmune programs). BMS signed a strategic partnership worth $15.2 billion with Hengrui last month spanning 13 early-stage programmes across oncology, haematology, and immunology – the Company’s first major, modern-day, China-sourced innovation and licensing "blockbuster" deal. For European and US biotechs, this raises the competitive bar significantly. However, the quality of the early evidence package remains critical: robust non-clinical data, well-designed early clinical studies, clear differentiation, and a credible development strategy are what make later partnerships possible. In this sense, the market has shifted toward a model where small biotech companies are not just innovation sources, but key drivers of early value creation. As therapies become more complex, partnership models are evolving beyond the traditional customer-supplier relationship. Increasingly, companies are looking for partners who can contribute expertise, provide strategic input and help navigate challenges, rather than simply deliver against a predefined scope of work. Many emerging biotech companies operate with lean teams and rely on external partners to supplement their internal capabilities.

The Life Sciences industry, including pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices and diagnostics, has long relied on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) to drive innovation, expand portfolios and respond to evolving market demands. Big Pharma is acquiring biotech to fill pipeline gaps: Large pharma companies are facing major patent expirations and revenue pressure, so they are buying biotech assets to access new drugs, platforms and late-stage candidates. Oncology remains central, but interest is also rising in immunology, neuroscience, rare disease, metabolic disease, radiopharmaceuticals and cell therapies. For example, Brickell’s deal with Botanix used milestone and sales-based earnouts, and Bristol-Myers Squibb’s acquisition of Celgene used a CVR tied to future regulatory milestones. Overall, risk-sharing remains central to these transactions, with parties allocating uncertainty through contingent payments, milestone triggers, profit-sharing, financing support, regulatory covenants, termination protections and post-closing carve-out obligations. The pharma and biotech M&A landscape is being shaped by the need for innovation, portfolio renewal and access to advanced technologies. Cross-border deals are increasing: Pharma companies are sourcing more innovation globally, especially from China, Japan and Europe. China has become a major source of biotech innovation, but geopolitical and regulatory risks are pushing companies toward licensing, co-development, option deals and milestone-based structures rather than full acquisitions alone. Cross-border and alternative structures will increase: Innovation will remain globally distributed, with continued interest in China, Japan, Europe and emerging biotech hubs. Because geopolitical, IP, data and supply-chain risk can complicate outright acquisitions, more companies are likely to use licensing, regional rights, joint development, options, royalties, minority investments and CVRs to access innovation while managing risk.

Biopharma dealmaking is driven by pressure to top up drug pipelines ahead of major patent expirations later this decade. The result is a more competitive market for the highest-quality biotech assets, particularly those with differentiated technology or exposure to large therapeutic areas such as oncology, metabolic diseases, and infectious diseases. For biotech founders and investors, that creates a stronger exit market than existed a year or two ago – but not necessarily a simple one. As the IPO window opens, Big Pharma's hunt for growth is expected to continue to set the pace. Large pharmaceutical groups, including GSK and Novartis, have long emphasized a preference for so-called bolt-on deals – acquisitions in the low single-digit billion dollar range that complement existing portfolios without transforming the whole business. But some recent transactions show the willingness to go higher for priority assets. GSK recently agreed to buy U.S. oncology biotech Nuvalent for $10.6 billion, a deal that marks a major push into cancer treatments and a departure from its more typical smaller bolt-on transactions. Public markets are beginning to reopen for biotech companies after several years of muted activity. But the strongest companies may still be more likely to sell themselves to Big Pharma rather than testing investor appetite in an IPO, according to JPMorgan's top healthcare dealmakers. The IPO window has reopened for high-quality biotech companies, but investors are far more selective than they were during the pandemic-era boom, Juha Anjala and Roy Wouters, co-heads of JPMorgan's EMEA healthcare investment banking, told CNBC.

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