Eli Lilly, striving to outpace Novo Nordisk, dominated the dealmaking scene in 2023 by executing six acquisitions. Although Pfizer, BMS and AbbVie sealed the largest M&A deals of the year, they did not lead in terms of volume.

Struggling antibiotic company will go privare under the agreement. Bayer will employ Acuitas's liquid nanoparticle technology in gene therapies developed by subsidiary Asklepios.

ElevateBio closed a series D venture capital round and revealed a potentially multibillion-dollar deal between its Life Edit subsidiary and Novo Nordisk as demand for its cell and gene therapy capabilities grow.

The rate of growth of the pharma pipeline slowed last year as oncology and rare diseases tightened their grip on R&D. There are also further signs of China’s rise in importance in the industry.