A Decade of Dealmaking: Major U.S. Pharma and Biotech Acquisitions

AbbVie reached an agreement to acquire Apogee Therapeutics for $10.9 billion in cash as it seeks to broaden its next-generation immunology portfolio. That transaction is the latest example in a string of large purchases by U.S.-based pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms pursuing promising therapies across multiple therapeutic areas.

Below is a compiled list of major deals involving U.S. acquirers and targets over roughly the past decade. Each entry lists the year, the acquiring company, the target, the reported transaction value and the brief strategic rationale as provided in the underlying report. Where the original source material contained unclear or fragmented wording, the compilation notes that limitation rather than supplying additional details.

• 2026 - AbbVie acquires Apogee Therapeutics for $10.9 billion to expand its immunology pipeline.
• 2026 - GSK acquires Nuvalent for $10.6 billion to expand its late-stage cancer drug pipeline.
• 2026 - Boston Scientific acquires Penumbra for $14.5 billion to expand its vascular pipeline.
• 2025 - Abbott acquires Exact Sciences for up to $23 billion to gain access to Exact Sciences' cancer tests, including the flagship colorectal cancer test Cologuard. (Ticker notation in original: N:ABT)
• 2025 - Merck acquires Cidara Therapeutics for $9.2 billion to gain access to Cidara’s experimental drug for flu prevention.
• 2025 - Pfizer acquires Metsera for $10 billion to establish a foothold in the growing obesity treatment market.
• 2025 - Merck & Co acquires Verona for about $10 billion. The listing in the source indicated a transaction described as strengthening Merck’s respiratory portfolio; portions of the original text were fragmented and included market ticker information interspersed with commentary. The available fact recorded here is the stated value and that the deal was reported to strengthen Merck’s respiratory portfolio.
• 2025 - Johnson & Johnson acquires Intra-Cellular Therapies for $14.6 billion to expand J&J’s footprint in brain disease treatments.
• 2024 - Novo Nordisk acquires Catalent for $16.5 billion to boost manufacturing capacity. Separately noted: Novo Nordisk reported an $11.5 billion item in the original list described as related to its popular obesity drug Wegovy; the listing was segmented in the source material.
• 2023 - Merck acquires Prometheus Biosciences for $10.8 billion to add an experimental treatment for ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease and broaden its immunology presence.
• 2023 - Bristol Myers Squibb acquires Karuna Therapeutics for $14 billion to gain a promising antipsychotic medicine as patents on older therapies near expiry.
• 2023 - Pfizer acquires Seagen for $43 billion to build its oncology portfolio amid declining sales from COVID-related products and increasing generic competition.
• 2022 - Amgen acquires Horizon Therapeutics for $27.8 billion in the largest buyout reported in the sector that year, fortifying Amgen’s rare disease portfolio.
• 2022 - Pfizer acquires Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding for $11.6 billion, betting on a new class of migraine drugs.
• 2021 - Merck & Co acquires Acceleron Pharma for about $11.5 billion, a deal described as diversifying Merck’s portfolio beyond cancer.
• 2021 - Ginkgo Bioworks goes public via a merger with Soaring Eagle Acquisition Corp, a blank-check vehicle, in a transaction valued at $17.5 billion according to the listing.
• 2020 - AstraZeneca acquires Alexion Pharmaceuticals for $39 billion, described as AstraZeneca’s largest-ever deal at the time to diversify away from a cancer-focused business toward rare-disease and immunology drugs.
• 2020 - Bristol Myers Squibb acquires MyoKardia for about $13 billion to bolster its portfolio of heart disease treatments.
• 2020 - Gilead Sciences acquires Immunomedics for $21 billion to strengthen Gilead’s cancer portfolio.
• 2019 - Mylan completes a transaction involving Pfizer’s Upjohn business valued at about $12 billion; the Upjohn acquisition was structured as a stock-based merger resulting in the formation of Viatris, with Upjohn effectively spun off to Pfizer shareholders and then merged with Mylan.
• 2019 - AbbVie acquires Allergan for $63 billion, gaining control of Botox and diversifying its portfolio beyond Humira; the original listing also referenced associated debt figures in the source material.
• 2019 - Pfizer acquires Array Biopharma for $11.4 billion to gain an oncology asset.
• 2019 - Bristol Myers Squibb completes the acquisition of Celgene for $74 billion, recorded as one of the largest pharmaceutical mergers in history in the source list.
• 2017 - Johnson & Johnson acquires Actelion for $30 billion; the source noted Johnson’s subsidiary Janssen Holding acquired Actelion while Actelion’s R&D unit was spun off into Idorsia.
• 2017 - Gilead Sciences acquires Kite Pharma for $11.9 billion to strengthen Gilead’s position in cell therapy, particularly CAR-T treatments.
• 2016 - Pfizer acquires Medivation for $14 billion, obtaining the blockbuster prostate cancer drug Xtandi.
• 2015 - Shire acquires Baxalta for $32 billion, moving Shire to a leading position in rare disease treatments.
• 2015 - AbbVie acquires Pharmacyclics for $21 billion, gaining access to what was expected to be a top-selling cancer drug and expanding in oncology.
• 2015 - Valeant Pharmaceuticals acquires Salix for $14.5 billion, positioning Valeant (now Bausch Health) as a leader in gastrointestinal drugs according to the listing.
• 2015 - Pfizer acquires Hospira for $15 billion, creating a leading global established pharmaceuticals business for Pfizer.

Notes on source material: The original listing included market ticker references and percentage-change snippets in-line with some deal entries; those ticker and market-change fragments were not expanded into separate claims beyond their presence in the original material. One entry (Merck & Verona, 2025) contained fragmented wording in the source; the reporter preserved the value reported (about $10 billion) and the statement that the deal strengthens Merck’s respiratory portfolio, and refrained from adding details beyond what was provided.

This compilation is intended as a factual ledger of major U.S.-based pharmaceutical and biotech transactions reported across the referenced timeframe. It preserves reported deal values and the concise strategic rationales that accompanied each listing in the source material.