Other Deal Trends 2026: Activity Up 1271% in 6 Months

96 deals in six months versus 7 in the prior period — that is a 1,271% increase in licensing and partnership activity for assets classified outside traditional modality categories (small molecule, biologic, cell therapy, gene therapy, ADC). The comparison periods are September 1, 2025 through March 1, 2026 (7 deals) and March 1, 2026 through August 29, 2026 (96 deals). This is not a statistical anomaly. It reflects a structural shift in how Big Pharma is sourcing innovation: the canonical modality labels no longer capture what is actually being transacted, and the capital is following the science into uncategorized territory.

The Data — Other Deal Activity, Period over Period

To put this in context: no single traditional modality — ADCs, cell therapies, radiopharmaceuticals — posted a comparable growth rate over the same window. The "other" category is effectively the fastest-growing deal segment in biopharma this year. That demands attention, not dismissal as a classification artifact.

What's Driving the Trend

Three forces are converging. First, modality diversification has accelerated past the taxonomy. Platform deals spanning computational biology, synthetic biology, microbiome engineering, RNA editing beyond mRNA, targeted protein degradation variants (molecular glues, heterobifunctional degraders that don't fit the classic PROTAC label), and radiopharmaceutical-adjacent constructs are flooding the market. Many of these simply do not fit legacy classification systems. The 1,271% surge partly reflects the proliferation of hybrid and novel modality platforms that defy neat categorization — and partly reflects pharma's growing comfort writing large checks against mechanistic novelty rather than validated drug classes.

Second, Big Pharma pipeline anxiety is acute. Patent cliffs through 2028 — estimated at over $200 billion in cumulative revenue exposure across the top 20 companies — are forcing BD teams to look beyond crowded competitive spaces. If 40 companies are chasing the same GLP-1 or ADC target, the differentiation premium for genuinely novel modalities increases. AstraZeneca's willingness to structure an $18.5 billion total deal value with CSPC Pharmaceutical tells you everything about how aggressively acquirers are pricing scarcity in non-consensus mechanisms.

Third, regulatory signals have been favorable. FDA's willingness to grant breakthrough and fast-track designations to unconventional modalities — including several radiopharmaceutical and degrader programs in 2025 and early 2026 — has de-risked these assets in the eyes of corporate development teams. When the regulatory pathway looks navigable, deal committees get comfortable with larger upfronts. The BridgeBio-Novartis deal at $105 million upfront is a useful proof point: that is not an option-style bet, it is conviction capital.

Notable Deals

The standout is the CSPC-AstraZeneca transaction from July 12. A $1.2 billion upfront with $18.5 billion in total deal value is the largest other-licensing deal of 2026 by a wide margin. AstraZeneca appears to have structured this as a multi-asset, multi-indication platform deal — the TDV includes heavy milestone loading, which suggests deep clinical optionality across CSPC's portfolio. The follow-on deal three days later ($1.77 billion TDV on what appears to be a narrower asset scope from the same partnership) reinforces AZ's conviction. Two deals with the same partner in a single week is not hedging — it is a land grab.

Novo Nordisk's $2.4 billion TDV deal with Omeros is equally telling. Novo has historically been disciplined about staying within metabolic and rare disease. Reaching into Omeros's complement and GPCR-targeted pipeline signals strategic expansion into immunology and inflammation through non-traditional mechanisms. The absence of a disclosed upfront suggests a heavily milestone-weighted structure, which Novo favors when entering unfamiliar therapeutic territory — risk-sharing through structure rather than risk-avoidance through inaction.

The Amgen-BeiGene deal, while lacking disclosed financial terms, fits the pattern of cross-border commercialization partnerships that have surged in the "other" category. These are not pure licensing deals; they are increasingly structured as co-development, co-commercialization, or regional rights swaps that blend multiple transaction types — another reason they resist traditional classification. For BD teams tracking other licensing 2026 trends, these hybrid structures are becoming the norm, not the exception.

What This Means for BD Teams Right Now

If you are a biotech founder or CBO with a platform or asset that does not fit neatly into a traditional modality bucket, this is the strongest seller's market you have had in three years. The data is unambiguous: buyer appetite for non-consensus modalities has increased by an order of magnitude. Use that leverage. Do not accept option-style deal structures with token upfronts when licensees are demonstrably willing to pay $105 million up-front (BridgeBio-Novartis) or $1.2 billion (CSPC-AstraZeneca) for the right assets.

If you are on the buy side, velocity matters more than perfection. The 96 deals in six months mean your competitors are active. Waiting for Phase 2 data to de-risk an asset also means competing against five other pharma BD teams who had the same idea. The structural shift toward heavy milestone loading — visible across the Omeros and CSPC deals — gives you a framework for managing board-level risk aversion while still moving quickly. Use Deal Benchmarks to validate your term sheet against the current market.

Deal structure is also shifting. Co-development and co-commercialization rights are increasingly replacing pure out-licensing, particularly for platform-stage companies with multiple pipeline candidates. This creates more complex term sheets but also more durable partnerships. BD teams should staff accordingly — you need people who can negotiate joint steering committee governance and cost-sharing mechanics, not just royalty rates and milestone triggers.

Benchmark your deal against current market rates. Whether you are structuring a platform deal, a single-asset license, or a regional commercialization partnership, the Ambrosia calculator gives you real-time comparables across upfronts, milestones, royalties, and TDV. Use it before your next term sheet goes out.