French biotech Abivax $ABVX ( ▲ 3.15% ) ripped higher Friday after a report suggested it could be the next major acquisition target in Big Pharma.
Shares jumped more than 20% in premarket trading after French outlet La Lettre reported that Eli Lilly $LLY ( ▲ 1.64% ) is preparing a €15 billion bid, roughly $17.5 billion, to acquire the company.
Not Official Yet, but Serious Enough to Move the Stock
According to the report, Lilly has not submitted a formal offer yet and is waiting for regulatory approval before moving forward.
Still, even the hint of a bid from a pharma heavyweight like Lilly was enough to spark a major rally in Abivax, especially after its recent clinical momentum.
The Drug That Put Abivax on the Map
Abivax drew major attention last year after it reported positive Phase 3 results in July for obefazimod, its inflammatory bowel disease treatment.
That kind of late-stage success is exactly what Big Pharma hunts for, particularly in high-demand therapeutic markets like IBD, where blockbuster drugs can dominate for years.
Why Lilly Might Be Interested
At the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, Abivax CEO Marc de Garidel told Bloomberg News:
“If you are Big Pharma, you cannot ignore that this product may be one of the most-used products in the next decade.”
That’s the pitch in a single sentence: if obefazimod is as strong as the data suggests, a €15 billion price tag could end up looking cheap in hindsight.
For now, it’s still just a report. But markets are reacting as if Lilly’s interest is real, and Abivax just entered the “buyout watchlist” phase.