Roundup of Antibody Biotech Deals in January 2026

January 2026 opened with an emphasis on complex antibody programs and platform-driven discovery. Deal activity leaned heavily toward bispecific, trispecific, and ADC assets, particularly in oncology and immunology, alongside steady investment in AI-enabled target discovery and antibody engineering platforms. Several of the month’s largest transactions focused on late preclinical and early clinical programs, pointing to continued pharma interest in differentiated antibody modalities with well-defined mechanisms as the year gets underway. 

🔍 January Deal Signals

• A concentration of multi-billion-dollar licensing deals around de-risked antibody assets

• Multi-target antibodies favored over entirely new mechanisms

• Immunology and allergy programs approaching oncology-level deal activity

• Discovery platforms positioned as accelerants, not substitutes, for asset acquisition 

🤝 Strategic Collaborations & Research Partnerships

• Earendil Labs × Sanofi – Strategic collaboration to discover bispecific antibodies for autoimmune diseases, with total deal value of up to $2.56B. 

• Cartography Biosciences × Pfizer – Collaboration to discover tumor-selective antigens, valued at up to $865M. 

• InduPro Therapeutics × Eli Lilly – Partnership to develop bi- and tri-specific oncology therapeutics, with potential value up to $950M. 

• Chai Discovery × Eli Lilly – Collaboration to accelerate biologics discovery using an AI-driven platform. 

• Swiss Rockets Group × Alloy Therapeutics – Partnership to advance radioligand therapeutics in oncology using antibody discovery technologies. 

• Tahoe Therapeutics × Alloy Therapeutics – Joint venture formed to develop ADCs for hard-to-treat cancers. 

• StarkAge Therapeutics × Gustave Roussy – Research collaboration to advance senolytic ADC therapies in digestive cancers. 

• Agenus × Zydus Lifesciences – $141M strategic collaboration to advance the BOT+BAL (botensilimab and balstilimab) immunotherapy combination.

• BioAtla × GATC Health – $40M partnership to advance the ADC ozuriftamab vedotin (Oz-V) into phase 3 trials.

💵 Licensing & Option Deals

• AbbVie × RemeGen – Licensing agreement to develop a PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibody for advanced solid tumors, with potential deal value up to $5.6B. 

• Novartis × SciNeuro Pharmaceuticals – Licensing and collaboration deal for a next-generation anti-amyloid antibody program for Alzheimer’s disease, valued at up to $1.5B. 

• AbbVie × Suzhou Zelgen Biopharmaceuticals – $100M upfront payment for ex-China rights to the trispecific lung cancer therapy alveltamig, with total milestones up to $1.07B. 

• DISCO Pharmaceuticals × Amgen – Licensing agreement to advance novel surfaceome-targeted cancer therapies, valued at up to $618M. 

• MediLink × Roche – Licensing and collaboration agreement for YL201, a B7H3-targeted ADC, valued at up to $570M. 

• Royalty Pharma × Teva Pharmaceutical – Royalty Pharma to provide up to $500M to support development of an anti-IL-15 antibody for vitiligo. 

• Boehringer Ingelheim × Simcere – Partnership to advance a bispecific antibody for inflammatory bowel disease, valued at €1.05B.

• Ellipses Pharma × Innolake Biopharm – In-licensing of a first-in-class B7H3-targeted ADC for multiple tumor types.

• Biocytogen × Acepodia – Expanded collaboration through option-based evaluation framework for first-in-class bispecific and dual-payload ADCs (BsAD2C).
  

💰 M&A

• GSK → RAPT Therapeutics – Acquisition valued at $2.2B, adding an anti-IgE antibody for protection against food allergy reactions. 

💸 Financings & Grants

• Mediar Therapeutics – Raised $76M Series B to advance an antibody-based fibrosis drug portfolio. 

• Poplar Therapeutics – Launched with a $50M Series A to develop anti-IgE therapies for atopic diseases. 

• Diagonal Therapeutics – Closed a $125M Series B to advance its disease-modifying clustering antibody pipeline. 

• EpiBiologics – Raised $107M Series B to advance bispecific antibodies designed to selectively degrade extracellular targets. 

• Caldera Therapeutics – Launched with $112.5M to develop a bispecific antibody for inflammatory bowel disease. 

• Rakuten Medical – Raised $100M Series F to support U.S. regulatory approval of ASP-1929, an antibody-dye conjugate therapy. 

• ProMIS Neurosciences – Announced up to $175M in private placement financing to advance PMN310 for Alzheimer’s disease. 

• Bio‑Sourcing × Zerion Pharma – Awarded a €1.3M EU grant to develop an orally administered anti-HER2 antibody. 

• Fortitude Biomedicines – Launched with $13M seed financing to develop immune-cell targeting biologics and molecular-glue-enabled ADCs. 

• Breakthru Medicine – Emerged from stealth with $60M Series A to advance oncology drug development.