‘Synthetic lethality’ could trigger another round of biotech M&A

Adam Feuerstein is a senior writer and biotech columnist, reporting on the crossroads of drug development, business, Wall Street, and biotechnology. He is also a co-host of the weekly biotech podcast The Readout Loud and author of the newsletter Adam’s Biotech Scorecard. You can reach Adam on Signal at stataf.54.

This story first appeared in Adam’s Biotech Scorecard, a subscriber-only newsletter. STAT+ subscribers can sign up here to get it delivered to their inbox.

Never before have I covered so much positive news about pancreatic cancer in such a short period of time. What happens next? Could Revolution Medicines buy Tango Therapeutics? Or, perhaps Bristol Myers Squibb goes all out and acquires Revolution Medicines?

To be clear, neither of these deals has been announced, or even rumored. I’m just playing the biotech M&A speculation game. But a strong case for something to happen can be made in the wake of Monday’s exciting report from Tango. In an early-stage clinical trial, patients with advanced pancreatic cancer benefited more from a combination of two targeted drugs — a PRMT5 inhibitor from Tango and Revolution’s pan-RAS inhibitor — than they might from each drug on its own.

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