Friday 9 October 2026

Dr Cheryl Barton

Freelance Journalist

Dr Barton is a freelance journalist specializing in the pharma and biotech sector.

Today's issue

Viatris to acquire Pacira BioSciences for $1.65 billion
Pharmaceutical
Viatris to acquire Pacira BioSciences for $1.65 billion
8 October 2026
Pharmaceutical
Zenbexus combo more than doubles median PFS in relapsed myeloma, BMS says
8 October 2026
Biotechnology
Ono Pharma inks license agreement with Biohaven
8 October 2026
Pharmaceutical
Cerevance's solengepras meets endpoint in Phase III Parkinson's trial
8 October 2026
Pharmaceutical
Shionogi transfers MA for Actair in Japan to Ceolia
8 October 2026
Biotechnology
Biohub, US agencies and AI groups commit $1.8 billion to build open data for predictive biology models
8 October 2026
Pharmaceutical
Newron details FDA safety concerns behind evenamide hold, says Phase III continues
8 October 2026

Latest from Dr Cheryl Barton

Pharmaceutical
M&A in mitochondrial therapies: New opportunities in rare diseases, neurology and beyond
According to market research, the mitochondrial therapeutics market is valued at $2.32 billion in 2025. It is projected to reach $5.4 billion by 2035, growing at a CAGR of 8.8%, primarily driven by advances in gene therapy, enzyme replacement therapies and pharmacological agents, including drugs that modulate oxidative phosphorylation and mitochondrial biogenesis (Figure 1).   22 December 2025
Pharmaceutical
M&A activity – Radiopharmaceutical therapies are a hot target for investment
A Feature on M&A, VC investment, licensing and partnerships in the radiopharmaceuticals arena.   9 May 2025
Pharmaceutical
New developments in autoimmune diseases
A Feature on M&A, VC investment licensing and partnerships focusing on novel targets in autoimmune diseases.   4 February 2025
Pharmaceutical
Can AI help biopharma identify the next blockbuster?
A Feature on M&A, licensing, and partnership tapping into AI’s potential to improve drug development.   2 December 2024
Biotechnology
M&A activity – CRISPR fuelling investor interest in gene editing
A Feature analyzing M&A, licensing and partnerships in gene editing as CRISPR therapeutics enter the market and present new opportunities for pharma growth.   15 November 2024

Latest from Dr Cheryl Barton

Biotechnology
Immunology: investors are tapping into high growth specialty medicines
A Feature analyzing how - and why - immunology remains a steady area of investment for big pharma and private investors.   31 October 2022
Biotechnology
M&A activity in orphan and rare diseases
A Feature on the deals being done in a lively sub-sector of the pharmaceutical industry.   6 October 2022
Pharmaceutical
Spin-outs and demergers - generating shareholder value?
Pharma companies continue to evaluate novel ways to increase their return on investment and generate shareholder value, basic earnings per share (EPS), plus stock price. Historically, pharma has pursued mergers and acquisitions to undermine R&D and drive growth.   19 September 2022
Pharmaceutical
The fall and rise of M&A investment in neuroscience
A feature on renewed interest in an area where the difficulty for drugmakers is matched only by the potential rewards.   3 August 2022
Pharmaceutical
Oncology continues to drive M&A and dealmaking activity
An analysis of how - and why - oncology remains the hottest area for big-money deals in pharma.   1 July 2022
Pharmaceutical
AI attracting investor attention
Investment in artificial intelligence (AI) is on the increase in the pharma industry due to its capacity to drive efficiencies and innovation.   1 June 2022
Pharmaceutical
Sanofi M&A activity: what, when and why?
An in-depth look at the French drugmaker's movements on the deal-making front.   3 May 2022
Pharmaceutical
Why are SPACs of interest to pharma and biotech?
An overview of a trend that may - or may not - be here to stay in the biopharmaceutical sector.   1 April 2022
Biotechnology
The race is on for coronavirus vaccines and treatments: current R&D status
Since the first reports of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Wuhan, China in December 2019 there have been more than 823,000 confirmed cases and over 45,000 deaths in 206 countries worldwide.   1 April 2020
Pharmaceutical
Annual revenue of top 10 big pharma companies
According to market research, the worldwide pharmaceutical market was worth nearly $1.3 trillion in 2019 and the top 10 pharma companies accounted for around a third of sales ($392.5 billion).   3 March 2020
Pharmaceutical
The rationale behind Lilly's $1.1 billion takeover of Dermira
A look at why US drugmaker Eli Lilly is willing to spend more than $1 billion on the takeover of dermatology specialist Dermira.   11 February 2020
Pharmaceutical
Top ten quarterly M&A spenders, Q4 2019
Looking at the deals announced in the fourth quarter of 2019, the M&A landscape was dominated by large pharma but increasingly biopharma companies and generic manufacturers are expanding their product portfolios and services through M&A activities, too.   30 January 2020



Company Spotlight

A UK-based clinical-stage CNS biotech leveraging its proprietary NETSseq platform and machine learning to discover novel brain cell targets and advance differentiated therapies for Parkinson's disease and beyond.




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