Acquisitions involving Alzheimer’s disease innovator drugs surged in total deal value by more than 780%, increasing from $2 billion in 2022 to almost $18 billion in 2024. The momentum in acquisition activity continued into 2025, with the total deal value reaching $16.8 billion by May, highlighting Alzheimer’s disease as a key area of focus by biopharmaceutical companies in fueling their pipelines, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
Alzheimer’s is a neurogenerative disease characterized by the accumulation of amyloid-beta (Aβ) plaques and neurofibrillary tau tangles within the brain, resulting in cognitive decline. Current treatments provide only moderate symptomatic relief for dementia and agitation without slowing disease progression, with oral Aricept — co-marketed by Eisai and Pfizer — as the top drug by global drug sales, totaling $165 million in 2024.
Alison Labya, Business Fundamentals Pharma Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The US FDA approvals of anti-Aβ monoclonal antibodies Eisai and Biogen’s Leqembi in January 2023, and Eli Lilly’s Kisunla in July 2024, have led to renewed interest in Alzheimer’s disease. Current Alzheimer’s R&D efforts now aim to improve efficacy and safety, including in the later stages of disease, by developing drugs targeting disease mechanisms beyond Aβ plaques.”
In December 2024, AbbVie completed the $1.4 billion acquisition of Aliada Therapeutics, including its anti-pyroglutamate amyloid beta (3pE-Aß) antibody ALIA-1758, which is currently in Phase I trials for Alzheimer’s disease.
Labya continues: “ALIA-1758 aims to differentiate itself from Leqembi and Kisunla through its novel delivery technology that is designed to overcome challenges of delivering drugs across the blood-brain barrier.”
The total deal value in 2025YTD was driven by Johnson & Johnson’s $14.6 billion acquisition of neurology biotech Intra-Cellular Therapies, completed in April 2025. The transaction includes oral small molecule ITI-1284, currently in Phase II trials for agitation and psychosis associated with Alzheimer’s.
In May 2025, Sanofi announced its $470 million acquisition of Vigil Neuroscience, adding to its neurology pipeline oral TREM2 agonist VG-3927, which has a planned Phase II trial in Alzheimer’s disease.
Labya concludes: “Large pharmaceutical companies, such as AbbVie and Sanofi, are placing their bets on Alzheimer’s disease through high value acquisitions. The future Alzheimer’s disease treatment paradigm is anticipated to be combinatorial, where novel drugs targeting alternative disease mechanisms, other than Aβ plaques, must demonstrate additive efficacy alongside Leqembi and Kisunla, as well as improved safety, to achieve market success.”
Note: Includes announced and completed acquisition deals involving at least one innovator drug developed for Alzheimer’s disease where marketed, pre-registration, Phase III, Phase II, Phase I, preclinical, and discovery stages are considered. Includes deals where a deal value was publicly disclosed.
For further insights into the latest Deal Trends in the Pharma Sector, please see our Venture Capital Investment Trends in Pharma – Q1 2025 and M&A Trends in Pharma – Q1 2025 reports.
