Pharmaceutical and life sciences companies spent September doing three things at once: embedding artificial intelligence into research and development, restructuring portfolios and manufacturing footprints, and buying scale in specialised segments. Taken together, the deals suggest that AI is no longer a standalone experiment but a core criterion in how partnerships are chosen.
AbbVie was the clearest example. The company announced a partnership with Valkai, a life sciences AI platform, to deploy purpose-built tools across targeted areas of clinical research, aiming to speed insight generation and shorten development timelines. It also signed a multi-year collaboration with Iambic, an AI-driven clinical-stage company, to discover small molecule therapies in immunology, neuroscience and oncology. Running one deal in clinical execution and another in early discovery indicates AbbVie is applying AI across the whole pipeline rather than in isolated pockets.
Data readiness is emerging as the enabling layer. CAS, a division of the American Chemical Society, will give Novartis Biomedical Research searchable access to its proprietary reaction data alongside more than 160 million curated reactions. The work will standardise records now scattered across lab notebooks, reports and partner platforms so they can feed machine learning. In oncology, AI-native Earendil Labs will lead discovery of bispecific antibodies with Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, up to early clinical development, after which Genentech takes over global development and commercialisation. The split of responsibilities is a template increasingly common in AI-led collaborations.
The month's most consequential structural move came from Sanofi. It announced its intention to transfer 20 mature medicines and three manufacturing sites to Cheplapharm, a European specialist in established products, in return for a 26.4% equity stake. The manufacturing capability includes what is needed to produce Lovenox/Clexane. The deal builds on a partnership dating to 2014 and reflects a broader view that innovative and mature medicines require different operating models. For Sanofi, it frees capital and management attention for innovation while retaining exposure to the mature portfolio through equity.
Biosimilars drew steady interest as healthcare systems prepare for a wave of biologics losing exclusivity. mAbxience, majority-owned by Fresenius with partial ownership from Insud Pharma, signed a licensing and commercialisation agreement with Sandoz for an emicizumab biosimilar candidate for haemophilia A. mAbxience will develop and manufacture it in Spain and Argentina, while Sandoz holds exclusive global rights outside Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay; financial terms were not disclosed. Separately, Cipla’s Invagen unit secured exclusive U.S. rights from China’s Qilu Pharmaceutical to QL2107, a biosimilar to Keytruda (pembrolizumab). Qilu will handle development, registration and supply, and Cipla USA will commercialise. The pairing of Chinese development capability with an Indian company’s U.S. commercial reach is a pattern likely to recur.
Manufacturing partnerships reflected demand for specialised capacity and cleaner operations. Recipharm, a global contract development and manufacturing organisation, has begun technology transfer of Swiss biotech CanVirex’s Vero cell and measles virus platform, moving toward a scalable bioreactor process to support clinical and eventually commercial supply of oncolytic virus immunotherapies. Claros Technologies completed a commercial-scale pilot of its ClarosTechUV system at Bachem’s Bubendorf campus in Switzerland. Bachem is a leading peptide manufacturer whose products include semaglutide, and the system targets ultra-short-chain PFAS such as TFA in wastewater. As peptide and GLP-1 production expands, environmental compliance is becoming a manufacturing consideration in its own right.
Consolidation continued in therapeutics and services. Telix Pharmaceuticals signed an agreement to lead a merger with ITM Isotope Technologies Munich, a leader in radioisotope production. The combined company would span isotope manufacturing, distribution, precision medicine and a late-stage therapeutic pipeline that includes two completed Phase 3 trials. Telix described the deal as part of industry consolidation, and control of isotope supply is central to that logic. Jazz Pharmaceuticals completed its $820 million upfront acquisition of Actio Biosciences, with Actio’s non-ABS-1230 programmes spun into a separate private company in which Jazz keeps a minority stake. Labcorp acquired MLM Medical Labs, giving it a wholly owned central laboratory network across four continents and stronger biomarker and specialty testing for trial sponsors.
Medtech and regional investment rounded out the month. Medtronic will invest about $700 million in Cornerstone Robotics and distribute its Sentire surgical system alongside the Hugo platform in select markets outside the U.S., at a time when global robotic surgery adoption remains in the single digits. Jaguar LAA, a newly formed company, acquired Johnson & Johnson’s Laminar left atrial appendage program together with the team behind it. Novo Holdings took a minority stake in China’s Huizhou ForYou Medical Devices, a wound care CDMO where GL Capital stays majority owner, and RAD Technology Medical Systems partnered with Chile’s CCTVal to introduce modular medical facilities to Chilean providers.
The pattern across September is consistent. Large companies are buying or licensing AI capability rather than building it alone, shedding mature assets to specialists, and securing manufacturing and supply positions in fast-growing modalities. With patent expiries approaching and development becoming more complex, partnership and consolidation are likely to remain the sector’s main strategic tools in the months ahead.