Biotech Startup M&A Is Reliably Delivering Some Big Exits

In a world where AI unicorns are

securing valuations in the tens and hundreds of billions of dollars

, biotech startups can’t compete for giant rounds. But while the space may be lower-profile, it’s still steadily generating M&A outcomes that look high by other historic standards.

Over the past two calendar years, acquirers have agreed to pay more than $38 billion to purchase

venture-backed companies in Crunchbase biotech industry categories. So far, 2026 is off to a brisk start as well, with

Eli Lilly

agreeing

this month to pay up to $2.4 billion for

Orna Therapeutics

, a startup focused on engineering immune cells in vivo.

Per Crunchbase data, 2025 and 2024 were two of the strongest years on record for biotech M&A. While we’re still below the 2021 peak, we’re also well past the subsequent low point, as charted below.

Largest deals in recent quarters

Since last year, at least nine funded U.S. biotech companies have sold in transactions valued at $1 billion or more, including potential milestone payments. Using Crunchbase

data

, we assembled a list, ranked by deal size.

The largest deal was

Johnson & Johnson

’s purchase of

Halda Therapeutics

, a developer of targeted oral therapies for solid tumors, for $3.05 billion in cash late last year. The pharma giant expressed particular interest in adding Halda’s clinical stage oral therapy for prostate cancer to its portfolio.

The two next-biggest acquisitions were both in the area of in vivo therapeutics, which enable a patient’s own body to generate cell therapies that can treat underlying disease.

One was Lilly’s aforementioned purchase of Watertown, Massachusetts-based Orna, which had previously raised over $320 million in venture funding from lead backers including

Merck

F2 Ventures

and

MPM Capital

The other was

AbbVie

’s mid-2025 acquisition of

Capstan Therapeutics

, a clinical-stage biotech developing targeted in vivo RNA technologies, with an initial focus on autoimmune diseases. AbbVie agreed to pay up to $2.1 billion in cash to acquire the San Diego-based startup,which previously raised $340 million in venture funding.

Biotech funding share slides, and IPO volume remains weak

While some large acquisitions are happening, the overall picture for biotech funding and exit activity looks more muted.

Last year, less than 9% of all U.S. startup funding went to companies in Crunchbase biotech categories. That’s the

lowest share in years

, and largely a function of more capital going to companies in other hot sectors like generative AI.

In terms of total finding, biotech looks more stable. In 2025, just over $25 billion went to U.S. startups in the space, roughly flat year over year.

IPO activity is

lower than usual

. Last year, just 21 biotech, pharma or medical device companies went public, per Crunchbase data, the lowest number in years.

So far this year, we’ve had four debuts, including most recently the debut this month of

Eikon Therapeutics

, a developer of cancer therapies recently valued around $900 million.

Not a slump, and not a boom

Overall, biotech funding and exit data paints a picture of a sector that’s neither booming nor in a protracted slump. That’s not the most exciting place to be, but it can be quite viable for quite a long time.

Related Crunchbase query:

Biotech Startup Acquisitions Of $1B+, 2025 – Present