CHS sells 180-bed hospital for $459M: 6 things to know
Alan Condon / beckershospitalreview - Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems on April 1 sold Crestwood Medical Center — a 180-bed hospital in Huntsville, Ala. — to Huntsville Hospital Health System for $459 million. Six things to know: 1. The deal includes all of the assets tied to th…
AI Summary: Community Health Systems has finalized the sale of a 180‑bed Alabama hospital for $459 million, concluding a transaction that reshuffles local care ownership and may prompt operational changes. The closing marks a notable consolidation step in regional hospital markets and raises questions about continuity and access as the new owner assumes control.
Biogen to acquire Apellis for $5.6B
Elizabeth Cairns / endpoints - Biogen has made a $5.6 billion deal to acquire Apellis Pharmaceuticals, the companies announced Tuesday. The deal will allow Biogen to get hold of the kidney disease drug Empaveli and the eye disease therapy Syfovre ...
AI Summary: Biogen agreed to acquire Apellis Pharmaceuticals for $5.6 billion, a deal pitched as a strategic move to broaden Biogen’s pipeline and bolster its biopharma foothold. Analysts and company spokespeople framed the purchase as value‑accretive, even as skeptics question integration risks and the price tag in a cautious market.
Eli Lilly’s Neuro Prospects Expand to Sleep Science With $6.3B Centessa Acquisition
Frank Vinluan / medcitynews - Centessa Pharmaceuticals’ cleminorexton is part of the orexin agonist drug class, which could introduce a new approach to the treatment of narcolepsy and other sleep disorders. Acquiring Centessa brings Eli Lilly into a group of clinical-stage orexin agon…
AI Summary: Eli Lilly announced a $6.3 billion acquisition of Centessa to secure a promising narcolepsy/sleep-disorder candidate and expand its neuroscience portfolio. The deal fast-tracks Lilly into sleep science, buying late-stage assets rather than relying on in-house miracles — a tidy shortcut to diversifying its neurotherapeutics pipeline.
“Me engañaron”: agentes encadenan a un padre que había ido al ICE a reunirse con sus hijos
Claudia Boyd-Barrett and Renuka Rayasam and Amanda Seitz / kffhealthnews - Se supone que la agencia que cuida a niños que llegan solos al país deben reunirlos pronto con sus familias o cuidadores. Pero cada vez más los usan como “carnada” para arrestar a los padres.
AI Summary: Gilead struck a deal to acquire Ouro Medicines for roughly $1.68–1.7 billion, securing an immune‑modulating autoimmune program intended to reset pathological immune responses. The transaction combines upfront cash and potential milestones, expanding Gilead’s pipeline and signaling continued industry appetite for bolt‑on buys to chase novel therapeutics.
Merck’s $6.7B Terns Acquisition Positions It to Challenge a Blockbuster Novartis Cancer Drug
Frank Vinluan / medcitynews - Merck has been acquiring assets that could help make up for the coming revenue decline as its top product, the cancer drug Keytruda, drops off the patent cliff. Terns Pharmaceuticals’ lead product candidate, in development for treating a type of leukemia,…
AI Summary: Merck announced a definitive deal to acquire Terns Pharmaceuticals for about $6.7 billion, gaining a promising leukemia drug candidate and bolstering its oncology pipeline. The transaction aims to combine Merck’s late‑stage development and commercialization capabilities with Terns’ targeted therapy assets to compete in hematologic malignancies.
Cencora acquiring EyeSouth Partners' retina business for $1.1B
fiercehealthcare - EyeSouth Partners' retina specialists will join Cencora's Retina Consultants of America, a management services organization that already boasts the country's largest network of retina centers.
AI Summary: Cencora has agreed to acquire EyeSouth Partners’ retina business for roughly $1.1 billion, strengthening its position in specialty ophthalmology services. The deal transfers a network of retinal care assets and aims to integrate retina-focused clinical operations and distribution under Cencora’s broader eye‑care strategy.
Novartis to pay $2B upfront to take next-gen PI3Kα inhibitor from Synnovation
Ayisha Sharma / endpoints - Novartis has budgeted $2 billion upfront to buy a more selective PI3Kα inhibitor for breast cancer. The Swiss pharma already has Piqray with a similar target, but drugmakers are now entering the next-generation era as ...
AI Summary: Novartis agreed to pay $2 billion upfront to acquire Synnovation’s mutant‑selective PI3Kα inhibitor, a bet to revive and strengthen PI3K‑targeting combination strategies in breast cancer. The deal swaps in external innovation for internal development speed, shoring up the company’s oncology pipeline while quietly admitting buying is sometimes faster than building.
Why Providence Wants to Sell Its Health Plan
Katie Adams / medcitynews - Providence announced its intent to sell its health plan, exiting the “payvider” model as rising costs and operational complexity weigh on smaller regional insurers. The move reflects a broader trend of health systems refocusing on core care delivery and e…
AI Summary: Providence Healthcare is actively weighing the sale of its health insurance arm as mounting fiscal pressures force leaders to consider dramatic options. The move would reshape the system’s payer-provider footprint, potentially easing balance‑sheet strain while unnerving patients, employers and regulators who’ll suddenly have a stake in the decision.
Universal Health Services buys Talkspace for $835M
Ngai Yeung / endpoints - Universal Health Services, which operates hospitals and mental healthcare facilities, is acquiring Talkspace for $835 million in an area closely watched for consolidation, as virtual mental health companies grapple with falling valuations despite high dem…
AI Summary: Universal Health Services agreed to acquire Talkspace for roughly $835 million to bulk up virtual behavioral‑health capabilities and outpatient telehealth services. The deal aims to expand UHS’s behavioral care footprint and diversify revenue streams, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory review — because nothing says mental‑health innovation like a corporate merger.
MUSC Health acquires South Carolina's largest multispecialty practice for $111M
fiercehealthcare - The deal, effective March 3, includes 126 physicians and advanced practitioners, expanding the academic system's primary care capacity.
AI Summary: MUSC Health completed a $111 million acquisition of a major South Carolina multispecialty practice, expanding its primary care and outpatient capacity. The deal consolidates regional services under the academic system’s umbrella, promising integrated care and scale efficiencies — and yes, another hospital system just got a bit larger.
Novartis closes Avidity deal as rare heart disease spinout launches
Lei Lei Wu / endpoints - Atrium Therapeutics launched Friday morning as Novartis closed the $12 billion deal to buy Avidity Biosciences and its RNA muscle therapies. The spinout will take on Avidity’s early-stage programs for genetic cardiomyopathies — heart muscle diseases ...
AI Summary: Novartis completed its Avidity Biosciences transaction and backed the launch of Atrium Therapeutics, a newly funded spinout focused on RNA therapies for rare cardiac conditions. Atrium inherits delivery platforms and early programs with substantial capital, as Novartis reshuffles assets to accelerate its RNA strategy — because apparently doubling down on hot modalities never gets old.
Gilead to acquire cell therapy manufacturer for $7.8B
Paige Twenter / beckershospitalreview - In a deal worth $7.8 billion, Gilead Sciences has entered a definitive agreement to acquire Arcellx, a biotech company developing a cell therapy for multiple myeloma. Gilead announced the acquisition agreement a few months after Arcellx published positive…
AI Summary: Gilead Sciences agreed to acquire Arcellx for $7.8 billion to secure manufacturing and commercialization of a leading multiple myeloma CAR‑T candidate. The deal folds Arcellx’s anito‑cel program into Gilead’s oncology portfolio, accelerating regulatory filings and scale‑up plans — because buying your way into cutting‑edge cell therapy apparently never goes out of style.
Hims to buy Australia’s Eucalyptus for $240M upfront in global push
Ngai Yeung / endpoints - In a bid to build out its global presence, Hims is buying Australian digital health company Eucalyptus in a deal worth $240 million upfront. The deal announced Thursday morning would allow Hims to launch in ...
AI Summary: Hims & Hers is moving aggressively into international telehealth by acquiring Australia’s Eucalyptus, a deal various reports value in the low‑to‑mid hundreds of millions to over a billion depending on earnouts. The purchase gives the U.S. digital health company an immediate footprint in Australia, Japan and other markets as it chases global scale.
Prime Healthcare Foundation acquires Maine health system
Sydney Halleman / healthcaredive - Nonprofit Prime Foundation, an affiliate of for-profit hospital operator Prime Healthcare, now owns 21 hospitals across eight states.
AI Summary: Prime Healthcare Foundation finalized its acquisition of a Maine health system, marking another step in the organization's regional consolidation strategy. The deal adds hospitals to Prime’s portfolio and underscores ongoing consolidation trends as systems seek scale to manage financial and operational pressures.
Federal judge vacates FTC's expanded premerger notification requirements
fiercehealthcare - The overhaul to the Hart-Scott-Rodino form went into effect in early 2025, and by the regulator's own estimates expanded merging companies' average paperwork burdens from 37 hours to 105 hours. The court's ordered rollback is set to take effect Feb. 19 pe…
AI Summary: A U.S. federal judge vacated the 2025 overhaul of the Hart‑Scott‑Rodino premerger filing rules that had broadened reporting obligations for merging parties. The ruling halts the expanded notification regime, reshaping near‑term M&A compliance expectations and leaving companies—and regulators—scrambling to reassess merger filing practices.
Eli Lilly Expands Its In Vivo Ambitions, Acquiring Cell Therapy Startup Orna for up to $2.4B
Frank Vinluan / medcitynews - Orna Therapeutics brings Eli Lilly an in vivo cell therapy ready for Phase 1 testing as a potential treatment for autoimmune diseases. Lilly is now the latest pharma company to use M&A to enter this growing field, following deals made in the past year by …
AI Summary: Eli Lilly is acquiring Orna Therapeutics for up to $2.4 billion to secure in‑vivo cell‑therapy capabilities and jump‑start its presence in CAR‑T and immune‑resetting platforms. The deal signals big pharma’s move to couple traditional drug development muscle with next‑generation cell‑engineering, accelerating clinical testing and commercialization plans.
‘Vertical integration is destroying people’s ability to access care’: Payer CEOs face bipartisan congressional grilling
Jakob Emerson / beckershospitalreview - The CEOs of the nation’s largest health insurers drew the ire of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle during congressional hearings Jan. 22 over industry consolidation, prior authorization practices and executive pay, with members pressing executives to e…
AI Summary: Lawmakers grilled top health insurance executives in a high‐profile congressional hearing over rising healthcare costs, vertical integration and shifting of cost burdens to hospitals and drug makers. The grilling highlighted deep concerns over patient access and systemic inefficiencies in American healthcare.
CHS signs $450M hospital sale to Huntsville Hospital Health System
fiercehealthcare - The deal for 180-bed Crestwood Medical Center, set to close in Q2, will add a fifteenth hospital to the northern Alabama-based nonprofit system.
AI Summary: Community Health Systems announced the sale of its 180‐bed Crestwood Medical Center in Alabama for $450 million to Huntsville Hospital Health System. The deal—set to close in Q2—forms part of CHS’s broader strategy to pare down debt through selective asset divestment.
Merck Could Strike 30 Billion Deal for Revolution Medicines
oncodaily - According to the Financial Times, Merck is in talks to acquire Revolution Medicines, a Redwood City, California-based cancer drug developer, in a deal that could value the company at roughly […]
AI Summary: Merck is reportedly in advanced talks to acquire Revolution Medicines—a Redwood City–based cancer drug developer—in a deal that could be worth around $30 billion. A separate report adds speculative color, reinforcing market buzz about this strategic move in oncology.
New Jersey system to join RWJBarnabas
Kristin Kuchno / beckershospitalreview - West Orange, N.J.-based RWJBarnabas Health and Englewood (N.J.) Health have signed a definitive agreement under which Englewood would become part of RWJBarnabas Health. The transaction is subject to state and federal regulatory approvals, according to a J…
AI Summary: A definitive agreement has been reached for Englewood Health to become part of West Orange–based RWJBarnabas Health, signaling a major consolidation in the New Jersey market. The merger is expected to drive significant investment in regional hospital networks and overcome previous regulatory hurdles, marking a new phase in local healthcare integration.