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Importance
42
Trust
66
Urgency
30
DEAL
Lilly, Gilead lead pharma’s M&A boom
Analysis
Lilly is spending GLP-1 drug profits on buyouts. Terns was bought by Merck, not a peptide play.
- Lilly made 3 deals in 2026 with $10.8B total upfront payments, funded by GLP-1 drug revenue
- Merck bought Terns Pharmaceuticals for its CML drug, not a peptide program
- 24 pharma deals closed Jan–Apr 2026 vs 14 in same period 2025; upfront value: $64B vs $24.5B
BioPharma Dive1mo
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