Week of October 31, 2025

The Week at a Glance:

• A Not-So-Spooky Week for the Markets: Stocks gained about ~1% for the week, as the Fed cut rates as expected and a new US–China trade agreement boosted sentiment. Earnings remained strong, with roughly 83% of S&P 500 companies beating Q3 expectations

• Pfizer vs. Novo – Fighting Obesity with Fatter Checks: Pfizer agreed to acquire obesity-drug startup Metsera for $4.9B upfront back in September, but Novo Nordisk launched a higher unsolicited $6.5B upfront bid last week, sparking a takeover battle that led Pfizer to sue both Metsera and Novo for breaching its merger deal and escalating the fight for dominance in the booming weight-loss drug market

• M&A Sees More Commercial MedTech/HealthTech Service Deals: Thermo Fisher Scientific agreed to acquire Clario for up to $9.4B, including $8.9B upfront and up to $400M in future earn-outs — boosting Thermo Fisher’s digital and clinical-trial data capabilities

Markets Overview

The S&P 500, Nasdaq, and the Dow were up 0.7%, 2.2%, and 0.8%, respectively

• The Fed cut interest rates by 25 bps, bringing the target range to 3.75-4%

• Investors also reacted positively to easing China trade tensions, and continued strong corporate earnings

The NYSE Pharma Index was down 0.4%, while the NBI was up 3.4% on the week

Notable changes in share price:

• Avidity (NASDAQ: RNA): Shares surged 48.6% after the Company announced its acquisition by Novartis for approximately $12B

• Metsera (NASDAQ: MTSR): Shares rose 19.8% after Novo Nordisk announced a $9B rival bid ($6.5B upfront), approximately $2B higher in total deal value than Pfizer’s offer

• Cabaletta Bio (NASDAQ: CABA): Shares rose 42.1% after the Company announced positive clinical data and development updates from its Phase 1/2 trials of rese-cel, Cabaletta’s autologous CD19-targeted CAR T therapy, in myositis, systemic sclerosis, and lupus

Sources: Pitchbook, Biomedtracker, and CapIQ

Equity Markets

IPO Markets:

No companies completed an IPO or filed an S-1 last week

Of 21 companies in the queue, only two intend to raise at least $100.0M in proceeds 

IPOs that have priced this year have delivered a median gain of 7.5%, with ~50% of newly public companies trading above their offer price 

Follow-On Offering Markets:

Follow-on activity continues to be active with seven offerings last week totaling $714.1M, including: 

• Arcus Biosciences (NYSE: RCUS) raised $250.0M to support late-stage clinical development of Phase 3 programs in GI and lung cancers (domvanalimab), pancreatic cancer (quemliclustat), and kidney cancer (casdatifan)

• MindMed (NASDAQ: MNMD) raised $225.1M to advance research and development of its product candidates, including Phase 3 development of MM120 for generalized anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder and Phase 2 development of MM402 for autism spectrum disorder

• Savara Inc. (NASDAQ: SVRA) raised $149.5M to support Phase 3 development and commercialization readiness of MOLBREEVI (molgramostim inhalation solution), a first-in-class inhaled GM-CSF therapy delivered via proprietary eFlow® nebulizer for autoimmune pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (aPAP)

Corbus Pharmaceuticals Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRBP) raised $75.0M to support Phase 2 clinical development of CRB-701 (Nectin-4 ADC) in Nectin-4 expressing solid tumors and CRB-601 (anti-integrin mAb targeting TGFβ) in αvβ8-enriched solid tumors

PIPE/RDO Markets:

There were five PIPE/RDO deals last week raising an aggregate $20.6M, each raising less than $10M

Licensing

M & A

Venture Financing

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