Piper Jaffray analysts led by Joshua Schimmer believe M&A activity in the Biopharma is yet to be done. Amid "easily accessible" debt, "generally strong" balance sheets and payor consolidation creating pricing and growth pressures, the field remains "ripe for additional activity," Schimmer and his team write in a note to investors. The analysts believe an array of assets could expand Gilead's (GILD) multiple, but disagree with those investors who think Vertex (VRTX) would be a good fit for the biotech. Amgen (AMGN) would benefit from adding a bolt-on revenue stream, possibly a new K+ binder or Isis Pharmaceuticals' (ISIS) antisense product, the analysts write. They feel Allergan (AGN) and Shire (SHPG) are the most likely to be active acquirers while AbbVie (ABBV) is positioned as both a potential acquirer and a target.

AbbVie announced positive topline results from LEVEL UP, an open-label, efficacy assessor-blinded head-to-head Phase 3b/4 study that evaluated the efficacy and safety of upadacitinib versus dupilumab in adults and adolescents with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis who had an inadequate response to systemic therapy or when use of those therapies was inadvisable. In the LEVEL UP study, upadacitinib showed superior efficacy versus dupilumab in the primary endpoint, demonstrating that a significantly higher proportion of patients simultaneously achieved both a 90% or greater reduction in Eczema Area and Severity Index and a Worst Pruritus Numerical Rating Scale of 0 or 1 at Week 16.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals and TreeFrog Therapeutics announced that Vertex has obtained an exclusive license to TreeFrog's proprietary cell manufacturing technology, C-Stem, to optimize production of Vertex's cell therapies for type 1 diabetes, or T1D. TreeFrog and Vertex will collaborate to scale-up TreeFrog's process to produce and amplify cells for Vertex's T1D therapies. TreeFrog's proprietary technology platform, C-Stem, is designed to mimic the natural microenvironment, allowing cells to grow exponentially in 3D. The technology will enhance Vertex's ability to generate large amounts of fully differentiated cells for its portfolio of T1D cell therapies.