Twine Saver, Q3 2026: the quarter in company building

Our companies work where science meets business: building and running organizations, taking new science to market, and making the software that research runs on. Each quarter we look back at how companies in those markets were bought, sold, financed and formed, using the companies' own announcements, their SEC filings and public data.

This first review covers July 1 to September 30, 2026. Two companion reports go deeper: life science deals and public markets and business formation and corporate strategy.

Seven things that defined the quarter

1. Fewer deals, still large ones. BioSpace counted 22 biopharma acquisitions worth just under $30 billion in the quarter, against 31 worth $78 billion in the second. The largest was Vertex's purchase of Crinetics at $85.00 a share in cash, an equity value of about $10.0 billion, announced July 6 and completed September 1.

2. Contingent pay in nearly every deal. Buyers and sellers bridged valuation gaps with contingent value rights and milestones. Curium agreed to acquire Lantheus for $102.50 a share in cash plus up to $12.00 a share in contingent value rights. Jazz paid $820 million upfront for Actio Biosciences with up to $500 million more in milestones. Webster Equity Partners' offer for Lifecore Biomedical carries up to $160 million in contingent value rights on top of the cash price.

3. Buy the asset, not the company. BioMarin's purchase of Alesta Therapeutics required every program except the one it wanted, and every employee, to be spun out before closing. Jazz's deal for Actio did the same, with Jazz keeping a minority stake in the new company.

4. A selective IPO window, with strategic investors in the books. According to Renaissance Capital, 30 U.S. IPOs raised $32.8 billion in the quarter, $6.2 billion of it outside one very large offering. Healthcare accounted for 9 of them, all biotech, raising $2.4 billion. Large pharmaceutical companies bought alongside the public: AbbVie in ADARx, Sanofi in Scribe Therapeutics.

5. Other routes to the public market. Leerink, cited by BioSpace, counted 17 biotech reverse mergers completed or planned in the quarter, against one in the second. In one of them, Slate Medicines will merge into Fulcrum Therapeutics with a $245 million private placement, and Slate's holders will own 95 percent of the combined company.

6. Money got more expensive. The Federal Reserve held its target range at 3-1/2 to 3-3/4 percent on July 29, with three members dissenting in favor of an increase, then raised it to 3-3/4 to 4 percent on September 16, saying inflation remains elevated.

7. Business formation peaked in July. New business applications reached 578,926 in July, up 8.1 percent, then fell 7.8 percent to 531,728 in August (seasonally adjusted, as first published by the Census Bureau).

What it means for company builders

Our read, not advice:

• For founders. Strategic buyers paid most for de-risked assets, and they increasingly buy a single program rather than a whole company. Building a company so that its lead asset can be separated cleanly, in its IP, data and contracts, keeps more paths open.
• For anyone negotiating a sale or licence. Contingent value rights and milestones are now the normal way to agree on price. The terms that define how they are earned, such as approvals, sales thresholds and dates, deserve as much attention as the headline number.
• For anyone planning to raise. With rates rising and the IPO window selective, a public listing is one route among several, including reverse mergers and strategic placements alongside an offering.
• For operators. Tools, manufacturing and scientific software companies kept consolidating. Mid-sized providers should expect to be approached, and their customers should expect their vendors to change hands.

What we are watching next quarter

• The Census Bureau's September business formation data, due October 14.
• Whether the Federal Reserve continues to tighten, and how biotech financing responds.
• Closings for the announced deals: Curium and Lantheus, Telix and ITM, and Altaris and Simulations Plus.

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Sources are linked above: company announcements and SEC filings, the Federal Reserve, the U.S. Census Bureau, and, where noted, Renaissance Capital and BioSpace. This report is a general summary of trends, prepared by Intertwine Partners solely from publicly available information, and offered for general interest. It is not investment, legal, tax or regulatory advice, not a recommendation about any security, and not an offer or solicitation. The mention of any company does not imply endorsement or any relationship. See the full terms in our Legal Notices, including our independence and conflicts of interest statement. Company and product names are the property of their owners.