J.P. Morgan deal wrap: European buyers, RNA and gene editing in spotlight

Though this year’s J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference lacked a signature deal to energize the biotech sector, multiple ten-figure M&A transactions showed demand for later-stage candidates and marketed drugs with potential for label expansions. European companies were the big buyers, with CVRs built into the agreements to account for regulatory uncertainty.

A spate of mostly smaller deals showed continued appetite for RNA therapeutics and gene editing, as mRNA-focused BioNTech SE (NASDAQ:BNTX) acquired machine learning company InstaDeep Ltd. and AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) paid $42 million up front as it entered a three-target deal with Anima Biotech Inc...