J&J Innovation's spate of deals led a busy week of deal-making involving many big pharmas. Sanofi exited its inhaled insulin partnership with MannKind, Merck collaborated with Quartet and Complix, Roche partnered with and helped finance C4, and Pfizer signed an immuno-oncology combo trial agreement with Syndax.

Despite robust launch as expected, analyst anticipates some patients will exit Orkambi therapy due to lack of efficacy or noticeable symptom relief. Meanwhile, companies including Concert and Galapagos are positioning themselves to compete with CFTR-modulating therapies.