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French drugmaker Sanofi invited pitches from banks to work on separating its consumer health business, Bloomberg reported this week.

Why it matters: The unit is potentially worth more than $20 billion and would likely be one of the largest European deals this year. 

Catch up quick: Sanofi initially tapped Rothschild to advise on a separate listing, Bloomberg reported in November, adding it could bring on additional banks.

The latest: Banks recently submitted their responses to the request for proposals, Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the matter.

Advent International, Blackstone, CVC Capital Partners, KKR & Co. and Clayton Dubilier & Rice have all expressed interest in the unit.

🔬 Mammoth Biosciences — the startup helmed by CRISPR discoverer Jennifer Doudna — announced a $100 million partnership with Regeneron to develop gene editing therapies.

Mammoth is eligible for up to $370 million per therapy in additional milestone payments. 

✂️ Bris­tol My­ers Squibb is taking its scissors out as new CEO Chris Boern­er executes a $1.5 bil­lion cost-cut­ting mea­sure, the company said during Q1 earnings.

BMS is culling "about 12" pro­grams from its pipeline and cutting approximately 2,200 jobs, or about 6% of its glob­al work­force.

The company's shares fell more than 7% on Tuesday.

💰 The drug industry and pharmacy benefit managers significantly upped their lobbying spend in the first quarter compared with the same period last year, according to an analysis Victoria Knight first wrote for Axios Pro Policy.

🤝 Major CRO Parex­el inked an AI part­ner­ship with Palan­tir, using the latter's systems to "en­hance and ac­cel­er­ate the de­liv­ery of safe and ef­fec­tive clin­i­cal tri­als for the world's bio­phar­ma­ceu­ti­cal cus­tomers." 

Terms of the part­ner­ship were not dis­closed.

👀 State of play: Private equity and venture capital investors struck these deals this week in biotech.

KKR agreed to acquire Immedica Pharma, a Stockholm-based drug manufacturer, with existing backer Impilo reinvesting to become an equal owner. axios.link/4aCZzDX

CVC Capital Partners is weighing options for its control stake in listed Italian drugmaker Recordati (Milan: REC), per Bloomberg. axios.link/4aPpMPH

Endeavor BioMedicines, a San Diego-based biotech focused on fibrosis, raised $132.5m in Series C funding from AyurMaya, Fidelity, Invus, SymBiosis Capital Management, Velocity Capital, and Woodline Partners. axios.link/3UeB2hn

Cerevance, a Boston-based developer of Parkinson's disease therapies, raised $47m in Series B extension funding from Agent Capital, Bioluminescence Ventures and Double Point Ventures. cerevance.com

Transcripta Bio (fka Rarebase), a small-molecule drug discovery startup, raised $10m from insiders Jazz Venture Partners and BlueYard Capital.

Enjoying this weekly dose of pharma and biotech coverage? Email us.

Victoria Knight first wrote for Axios Pro.

1. Your week in biotech

Illustration of a health cross and a pill bottle in a pile of money

April 22 — Anyone hoping for merger madness in health care this year will have to defer those dreams, a recent Moody's report suggested.

The big picture: Transformative M&A, particularly in the payer and provider sub-sectors, is less likely given increasing regulatory scrutiny, Aaron wrote.

Go deeper: Read Monday's newsletter, plus Monday's Pro Rata on Manish Lachwani, co-founder and former CEO of HeadSpin, being sentenced to prison for fraud.

2. Moody's predicts quiet 2024

Illustration of a hand in a suit handing out a tiny dollar

April 23 — Pediatric telehealth startup Summer Health raised an $11.65 million Series A, CEO Ellen DaSilva told Erin exclusively.

Why it matters: Fewer doctors are going into pediatrics, while parents grapple with soaring child care costs and worsening pediatric mental health.

Go deeper: Read Tuesday's newsletter, plus Tuesday's Pro Rata on Kim Kardashian's private equity firm navigating fundraising hurdles.

3. Summer grabs $12M for kid health support

Illustration of a blue teddy bear with orange band-aid on its arm. 

April 24 — Alaffia, a medical billing company, raised a $10 million Series A, CEO TJ Ademiluyi told Aaron exclusively.

Why it matters: The U.S. health care system loses up to $935 million a week because of medical billing errors.

Go deeper: Read Wednesday's newsletter, plus Wednesday's Pro Rata on an ex-Stanford president's AI biotech startup snaring $1 billion.

4. Alaffia gets $10M Series A for medical billing

Illustration of a red pen held by a robot hand marking up a medical bill.

April 25 — Labcorp (NYSE: LH) will acquire Softbank-backed genetic testing company Invitae (OTC: NVTA) for $239 million, Axios' Claire Rychlewski wrote.

Why it matters: Worth more than $7 billion at its peak, Invitae saw a steep decline to less than $1 million, as demand for its services lagged following a pandemic-induced boom.

Go deeper: Read Thursday's newsletter, plus Thursday's Pro Rata on Donald Trump receiving around 36 million more shares in the parent company of Truth Social.

5. Labcorp buys bankrupt genetic test maker Invitae

Illustration of a microscope with shapes and dollar elements.

Research associate Natalie Breymeyer here with your weekly digest.

🪩 The surprise movie theater showing of "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery" for Natalie's partner was a smashing success and inspired an entire weekend of rewatching the Austin Powers franchise.

🙏 Thank you to Egan Millard for today's edits.

Thank you for reading us this week! Please ask your colleagues, friends and family to sign up.

April 26, 2024

1. Your week in biotech