Leerink Partners expands Institutional Equities platform with appointment of Chris McCarthy as Senior Managing Director. PR Newswire BOSTON, Aug. 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ - Leerink Partners, a leading investment bank specializing in healthcare, today announced that Chris McCarthy has joined the Firm as a Senior Managing Director, further strengthening its Institutional Equities platform while expanding its healthcare sales capabilities. Mr. McCarthy will be based in Leerink Partners' New York office and will report to Rob Leerink, Head of Institutional Equities. Mr. McCarthy brings more than 25 years of experience serving institutional healthcare investors. He joins from RBC Capital Markets, where he was ranked the No. 1 Healthcare Salesperson by Institutional Investor three times over the past five years. Prior to RBC Capital Markets, he held healthcare sales roles at Bank of America and Cowen (now TD Cowen). "Chris is a highly respected healthcare sales professional who has earned an outstanding reputation across the industry through decades of building trusted relationships with investors. His market insight, client focus, and deep understanding of the healthcare landscape will help us expand our reach," said Rob Leerink. "He will leverage his industry expertise and market intelligence to support institutional investors and corporate clients as we continue investing in our leading institutional equities platform." In his role, Mr. McCarthy will collaborate closely with the Firm's research, sales, trading, and capital markets professionals to deliver differentiated market insights and strategic advice to institutional investors. "Leerink Partners has built the industry's premier healthcare investment banking and institutional equities platform, with a longstanding reputation for delivering differentiated insights and exceptional client service," said Mr. McCarthy. "I'm excited to join such a talented team and work alongside my colleagues to help clients navigate one of the most innovative and rapidly evolving periods in healthcare." About Leerink Partners LLC Leerink Partners LLC is a highly specialized healthcare investment bank with a legacy of excellence in the financial industry. The Firm's experienced team delivers innovative advisory solutions, capital raising expertise, and unique insights to empower clients to achieve their strategic objectives. Since inception the Firm has advised on $85 billion, helped clients raise over $225 billion, and has established itself as a trusted partner to healthcare companies and their investors. The Firm is a broker-dealer registered with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

BlossomHill Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing small molecule cancer treatments, has priced its upsized initial public offering at $150 million. The San Diego-based company is offering 9,375,000 shares at $16.00 per share. The shares are expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on 7 August 2026 under the ticker symbol "BLSM". The offering is scheduled to close on 10 August 2026. BlossomHill has granted underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1,406,250 shares at the public offering price. J.P. Morgan, Leerink Partners, and Guggenheim Securities are serving as lead book-running managers. The company's lead programmes include BH-30643 for EGFR-mutant non-small cell lung cancer and BH-30236 for acute myeloid leukaemia.

Vertex was sole bidder in high-premium Crinetics acquisition. Analysts expect new details on the lead-up to the deal "are likely to reignite" investor scrutiny that Vertex overpaid in what's poised to be its largest-ever transaction. Published July 22, 2026 Vertex Pharmaceuticals was the lone bidder in a planned, $10 billion acquisition that has some investors questioning whether the biotechnology giant overpaid on its largest-ever deal. Financial documents filed Tuesday provide an inside look at the tie-up between Vertex and Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, a California-based company specializing in endocrine drugs. Crinetics has one marketed therapy for an uncommon hormonal condition, as well as an experimental medicine in late-stage testing for a rare genetic disease called congenital adrenal hyperplasia. Vertex estimates that, together, the two drugs could generate north of $5 billion a year at their peak. Yet, at a 102% premium, the $85-per-share offer is one of the biggest markups this year for a biotech buyout, according to BioPharma Dive data. When Vertex shares dipped after the deal's announcement, analysts suspected that investors weren't happy with the price tag. The deal value "assumes a bullish case outcome" for Crinetics' drugs, and will likely stir debates about whether Vertex "paid full price or even a rich price," Stifel analyst Paul Matteis wrote in a July 6 note to clients. The newly released documents "are likely to reignite" that investor scrutiny, according to RBC Capital Markets analyst Brian Abrahams. The seeds for the acquisition, like many biopharma deals, were planted at the industry's annual bellwether event: the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference. Crinetics' filings describe how, during that mid-January conference, its own representatives met with Vertex's external innovation team "as part of ordinary course business development activity." A couple months passed before Vertex, on March 14, reached out to Crinetics' CEO R. Scott Struthers about a potential transaction. By March 24, Vertex submitted a proposal to buy all of the biotech's outstanding shares for $78 apiece, reflecting a 125% premium to the stock's most recent closing price. Crinetics quickly tapped Leerink Partners and J.P. Morgan to serve as financial advisors, and, together, this team spent the next 10 days evaluating the proposal. Crinetics' board of directors acknowledged the sizable premium, but believed that, since this was an initial offer, Vertex would be willing to go higher. On April 5, the board rejected the bid but cleared Struthers to tell Vertex they may reconsider if terms were "significantly improved." On April 19, Vertex revised its offer to $83 per share, which, by that time, represented a 102% premium. But it still didn't pass muster. Crinetics' board members knocked down the new proposal three days later. And, with adviser help, they came up with a list of six other companies that might be interested in - and have the resources to finance - a substantial transaction. In the final week of April, three of those six counterparties conveyed they didn't want to make a deal. Another, "Party A," did express interest. By May 1, however, it determined it couldn't propose a transaction worth north of $6 billion. After some back and forth, "Party A" dropped out of the deal process. The final two contenders followed suit the next week. From May 8-28, Crinetics and Vertex continued to exchange due diligence information. On that latter date, Vertex upped its offer to $84.50 per share, or a 130% premium. The Crinetics board concluded that, because this new offer would be dilutive to Vertex's earnings per share in the near term, it was likely at or near the maximum Vertex would be willing to pay. Still, the board wanted to see if it could squeeze out a little more, so they relayed a counterproposal of $87 per share. Vertex representatives said further due diligence was required before they could put forward a final offer. On June 19, a senior representative contacted Struthers and said Vertex was prepared to buy Crinetics for $85 per share. Crinetics tried to eke out one more dollar per share, but Vertex responded that the $85 price point was its best and final offer. Crinetics' board found this acceptable, and after squaring away other final concerns, the companies reached an agreement on July 6.