Life science news 10 August 2026: Curium pays up to $8 billion for Lantheus to build a radiopharma giant, AstraZeneca’s shares slide on reported $400 billion Bristol Myers Squibb talks, and the MHRA approves a first-in-class BTK inhibitor for chronic hives in an M&A-fuelled week for pharma, biotech and healthcare.
Curium announced on 3 August that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Lantheus Holdings for total consideration of up to $114.50 per share in cash, in a deal worth up to $8 billion. Lantheus shareholders will receive $102.50 per share in cash at closing, plus non-transferable contingent value rights worth up to a further $12 per share tied to commercial performance milestones through 2030, representing a premium of 38 per cent to Lantheus’s unaffected 60-day volume-weighted average price. Curium, one of Europe’s largest radiopharmaceutical companies, said the combination would bring its theranostics portfolio and global manufacturing platform together with Lantheus’s complementary US radiodiagnostics business, serving oncology, neurology and cardiology patients across more than 70 countries. Curium Group Chief Executive Renaud Dehareng said Lantheus is the ideal partner to accelerate the strategy Curium has been building, which includes expanding its global manufacturing footprint and advancing its radioligand therapy pipeline. Morgan Stanley acted as lead financial advisor to Lantheus, while Jefferies led advisory duties for Curium. The transaction, unanimously approved by Lantheus’s board, is expected to close in the first half of 2027, subject to shareholder and regulatory approval.
AstraZeneca shares fell by as much as 9 per cent on 3 and 4 August after the Financial Times and Bloomberg reported that the company had held early-stage talks about combining with Bristol Myers Squibb, in what would rank as the largest deal in pharmaceutical history. A tie-up would create a company with a combined value of close to $400 billion, based on AstraZeneca’s market capitalisation of around $264 billion and Bristol Myers Squibb’s roughly $133 billion, and would rank as the world’s fourth-largest drugmaker by market value. Neither company has confirmed the reports, and analysts said investors were sceptical of the strategic logic given AstraZeneca’s own growth momentum, with Jefferies analysts describing themselves as “a bit perplexed” given the strength of AstraZeneca’s existing pipeline. The clearest rationale centres on US market exposure, with AstraZeneca’s US sales accounting for 42 per cent of total revenue in the first half of 2026 against 69 per cent for Bristol Myers Squibb, while a combined oncology portfolio would likely be the broadest in the industry and would be expected to attract antitrust scrutiny. Bristol Myers Squibb shares rose by up to 6 per cent in premarket trading on the same reports.
Integer Holdings announced on 3 August that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by an affiliate of investment funds managed by KKR in an all-cash transaction valued at an enterprise value of approximately $5.7 billion. Integer stockholders will receive $127 per share, representing a premium of approximately 51.8 per cent to the company’s closing share price on 29 April 2026, the day before Integer announced a board-led strategic review. Integer is one of the largest medical device contract development and manufacturing organisations in the world, supplying components for implantable cardiac devices, neurostimulation systems and vascular and orthopaedic products to a wide range of device makers. Given the pending transaction, Integer withdrew its previously issued financial outlook and cancelled the earnings call that had been scheduled for 6 August. Goldman Sachs acted as exclusive financial advisor to Integer, while Centerview Partners, Barclays, Citi and Raymond James advised KKR. The deal, unanimously approved by Integer’s board, is expected to close by the end of 2026, subject to stockholder and regulatory approval.
Replimune announced on 6 August that the US Food and Drug Administration has granted accelerated approval to Tudriqev (vusolimogene oderparepvec-wtpg), formerly known as RP1, in combination with nivolumab for adults with unresectable advanced cutaneous melanoma who have progressed on a prior anti-PD-1 based regimen. The approval follows two previous complete response letters and a favourable 10 to 3 vote by the FDA’s Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee on 30 July, which found that the efficacy data from the pivotal IGNYTE trial were evaluable and clinically meaningful. In the efficacy-evaluable population of 91 patients with at least one non-injected lesion, Tudriqev plus nivolumab achieved an objective response rate of 24.2 per cent with a median duration of response of 14.1 months. Approval is based on objective response rate and duration of response, and continued approval may depend on verification of clinical benefit in the confirmatory Phase 3 IGNYTE-3 trial, which is ongoing. Replimune Chief Executive Sushil Patel described the approval as a transformative moment for the company, marking years of research to bring the therapy to patients desperately in need of new options for advanced melanoma.
In further life science news 10 August 2026, the week also brought a transatlantic merger of equals in neuroscience, a landmark UK regulatory approval, a government pledge to fast-track care for motor neurone disease patients, and a nine-figure antitrust settlement for one of the world’s largest generic drug makers.
Supernus Pharmaceuticals and Indivior Pharmaceuticals announced on 3 August that they have entered into a definitive agreement to combine in a tax-free, all-stock merger of equals, creating a diversified central nervous system biopharmaceutical company to be named Supernus, Inc. Under the terms, each Supernus share will be exchanged for 1.5401 Indivior shares, with Indivior stockholders owning approximately 56.5 per cent of the combined company and Supernus stockholders the remainder, while Indivior will declare a pre-closing special cash dividend of $1 billion funded partly by a $650 million term loan. The combined company expects approximately $2.2 billion in annual revenues, $888 million in pro forma adjusted EBITDA and $125 million in annual cost synergies. Supernus President and Chief Executive Jack Khattar will lead the combined company, with Indivior board member Tony Kingsley serving as board chair. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to shareholder and regulatory approval.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency approved remibrutinib (Rhapsido) 25mg film-coated tablets on 6 August for adults with chronic spontaneous urticaria whose symptoms are not adequately controlled by antihistamines. The oral Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitor was approved through the International Recognition Procedure Route B, following assessment of evidence from two Phase 3 trials involving 925 adults with the condition, in which patients treated with remibrutinib experienced significantly greater reductions in itch and hive symptoms compared with placebo. Chronic spontaneous urticaria is a long-term condition causing recurrent hives, itching and swelling, driven by an overactive immune response, and remibrutinib works by blocking BTK to reduce inflammation and the frequency and severity of flare-ups. Julian Beach, MHRA Interim Executive Director of Healthcare Quality and Access, said the approval provides a new treatment option for adults whose symptoms are not adequately controlled by antihistamines, and confirmed the agency will continue to monitor the medicine’s safety through the Yellow Card scheme. The marketing authorisation was granted to Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK on 5 August.
The Department of Health and Social Care announced on 5 August that patients with motor neurone disease will get faster access to care and support, as Health and Social Care Secretary Yvette Cooper set out new measures during a visit to the Rob Burrow Centre for Motor Neurone Disease in Leeds. The announcement forms part of the first phase of reforming the social care system, responding to recommendations from Baroness Casey’s commission that highlighted the need for urgent action to reduce delays and fragmentation in support for people living with the condition. The government has already written to local authorities setting out immediate steps to improve services, and is developing a prototype system for fast-tracking access to social care for people with motor neurone disease, which affects more than 5,000 adults in the UK at any one time. Tanya Curry, Chief Executive of the MND Association, said families are too often forced to battle a system that is slow, disjointed and too complex to respond to a rapidly progressing disease, and called for that willingness to be turned into national and local action.
Sandoz announced on 3 August that it has agreed to pay approximately $450 million to resolve all remaining claims brought by 43 US states and territories over alleged anti-competitive conduct in the American generic medicines market. Sandoz Inc. will pay $400 million over seven years starting in 2027, plus a further $50 million to states that reached earlier settlements, resolving litigation dating back to 2016 in which Sandoz and its subsidiary Fougera Pharmaceuticals were named alongside other generic manufacturers in claims alleging price fixing and market allocation. The Swiss group separately reached a $28.5 million settlement with indirect purchasers, including pharmacies, clinics and hospitals that resold the medicines to consumers. Sandoz said both agreements contain no admission of wrongdoing and will not affect its 2026 guidance or medium-term outlook, noting that provisions had already been set aside for the litigation.
Latigo Biotherapeutics announced on 6 August the pricing of its upsized initial public offering of 19.2 million shares of common stock at $18 per share, for expected gross proceeds of $345.6 million before fees and expenses. The clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, whose lead candidate LTG-001 is an oral Nav1.8 inhibitor designed to provide fast-acting, opioid-sparing relief for acute pain, began trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on 7 August under the ticker LTGO, with underwriters holding a 30-day option over a further 2.88 million shares. Goldman Sachs, Jefferies, Leerink Partners and Guggenheim Securities served as joint book-running managers. The listing is one of the largest of a busy year for biotech IPOs, with US-listed biotech and pharma companies having raised $5.4 billion so far in 2026, compared with $969.2 million over the same period in 2025.
That’s your life science news digest for 10 August 2026, back next Monday with the latest from pharma, biotech and healthcare at www.lifesciencedaily.news. Catch up on the 3 August news roundup.
