Metabolic medicines continue to be one of the hottest areas for drug research, so it should come as no surprise that deal flow for obesity and diabetes drugs was a particular highlight of biopharma activity in 2025.
In total, 19 obesity and diabetes drug R&D partnerships were struck last year, according to J.P. Morgan’s Q4 2025 Biopharma Licensing and Venture Report. While that total is 10 fewer than in 2024, the dollar amounts skyrocketed. Those 19 deals represented $20.2 billion in total deal value compared to $8.4 billion in 2024, setting a new record high. Despite fewer deals than the prior year, J.P. Morgan said these transactions generated higher aggregate deal values, highlighting an increased strategic focus on metabolic disease.
The field of obesity drug R&D continues to expand beyond GLP-1 to additional targets, such as the GIP receptor. J.P. Morgan counted five R&D partnerships for GLP-1 and GIP programs last year representing $10.7 billion in total deal value. In 2024, the bank reported 11 such deals representing $9.1 billion in total deal value. Many of last year’s deals came with nine-figure upfront payments.
Another key 2025 trend was the licensing of assets from China-based biotech companies. J.P. Morgan counted 16 of these deals with at least $50 million paid up front. In 2024, the bank counted 10 such deals.
Venture capital investment was down last year. J.P. Morgan counted $25.6 billion invested across 413 deals in 2025, compared to $27.8 billion invested across 461 deals in 2024. The investments last year favored companies with advanced therapeutic pipelines with near-term clinical and commercial potential, the bank said. J.P. Morgan counted just nine IPOs that raised $1.6 billion in 2025, down from 19 IPOs and $3.8 billion raised in the prior year. By and large, biotech companies looking for ways to support their pipelines turned to M&A or licensing deals.
M&A activity last year was stronger than in 2024, driven by several multi-billion-dollar transactions, J.P. Morgan said. A total of 129 deals totaled $116.3 billion in 2025, according to the report. As examples, the report singled out Novartis’s $12 billion acquisition of RNA therapies biotech Avidity Biosciences, Merck’s $9.2 billion buyout of influenza drug developer Cidara, and Novo Nordisk’s $4.7 billion acquisition of metabolic medicines developer Akero Therapeutics.
Those three deals all happened in the fourth quarter, reflecting the rise of dealmaking in the later part of the year. The data in the report are as of Dec. 15, 2025, so they miss some large transactions that closed out the year. In the week leading up to Christmas, BioMarin Pharmaceuticals agreed to buy rare disease drug developer Amicus Therapeutics for $4.8 billion. Days later, Sanofi struck a $2.2 billion deal to buy vaccines developer Dynavax Technologies.
Photo: Mike Kemp/In Pictures, via Getty Images
