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U.S. investors like Bain Capital Life Sciences and large pharmaceutical companies like Merck are increasingly looking for new medicines in China.
Almost 30% of Big Pharma deals with at least $50 million up front came from China last year, up from 20% the year before and 0% only five years before, according to data from DealForma.
The increase in China deals comes as President Donald Trump and U.S. policymakers pursue protectionist policies in technology like artificial intelligence and semiconductors.

A worker is working on a drug production line at the production workshop of a pharmaceutical company in Meishan, China, on January 30, 2024.
Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images

A little-known biotech company stunned the biopharmaceutical industry last spring when it declared an “unprecedented” achievement: its experimental cancer drug looked more effective than Merck’s Keytruda in a clinical trial. The company, Summit Therapeutics, licensed the drug from Chinese company Akeso Inc. 
In October, a group of life science investors announced they were putting $400 million into creating a company called Kailera Therapeutics that would develop experimental obesity drugs it bought from Chinese company Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals.

Then in a matter of days in December, Merck disclosed it would license a potential competitor to Summit’s drug and a separate experimental obesity pill – both from Chinese companies. 
Suddenly, U.S. companies are racing to find medicines in China. Almost 30% of Big Pharma deals with at least $50 million up front involved Chinese companies last year, up from 20% the year before and none only five years before, according to data from DealForma. 
“That’s stunning to me,” said Chen Yu, founder and managing partner at crossover fund TCGX. “That’s stunning.” 

Yu said 20 years ago, few biopharma companies were interested in China because they considered it a small market. His former firm, Vivo Capital, pioneered the concept of bringing U.S. medicines to the Chinese market.
Today, the movement is going in the opposite direction. He never imagined the proliferation that’s taking place now. 

Investors and industry insiders offer a few reasons for the trend: Chinese companies are creating better molecules than ever before – and more of them. They can start testing those compounds in humans sooner and at a lower price than in the U.S. Buyers have figured out a business model to essentially import the drugs through licensing deals. Venture funding in China has also dried up, forcing biotech companies to do deals. 
One thing all of those people in the industry agree on? This trend isn’t going away.
What’s less clear is what the development means for the U.S. biotech sector. 
Some people contend it’s terrible for American startups if large pharmaceutical companies can find a promising drug in China for a fraction of the price. Others argue competition makes everyone better, and American companies will ultimately reap the rewards of bringing medicines to the market. Either way, the influx could reshape the landscape of the U.S. biopharma industry. 
“It’s kind of a watershed moment where the pharma industry is like, ‘We don’t really need to buy U.S. biotechs necessarily,'” said Tim Opler, a managing director in Stifel’s global health-care group. “We will if it makes sense, but we can buy perfectly good biotech assets through licensing deals with Chinese companies.” 
Bain Capital Life Sciences started making China a priority around 2018, said Adam Koppel, a partner at the fund. The private equity firm saw the Chinese government and the life sciences industry making a deliberate effort to evolve from its historical focus on copycat and fast-follower drugs that mimicked leading drugs to creating new chemical matter that China could export to the rest of the world. 
Since then, Bain has struck six biopharma deals in China. It bought an experimental asthma drug from Hengrui in 2023 and co-launched a company called Aiolos with a $245 million series A funding round. GSK acquired the company three months later for up to $1.4 billion. 
Koppel sees more large pharmaceutical companies growing comfortable with drugs coming out of China as they work with more of them and see their outcomes, he said. Buyers had held back in part because they worried data from China wasn’t representative of a global population and U.S. regulators wouldn’t accept it. 
“As they’re seeing assets then come out, they’re seeing things that are having success, and eventually, as things get approved and used on the market, I think that that concern will become lessened,” he said. 

Piotr Swat | Lightrocket | Getty Images

That narrative was on display when Summit Therapeutics last year said its experimental cancer drug beat Merck’s mega-blockbuster Keytruda in a head-to-head study, a feat no other drug has accomplished. Summit’s trial was conducted exclusively in China, making people question if the results would hold up elsewhere. 
When Summit’s leaders were shopping for a drug they could develop, they made it a point to look in China because co-CEO Bob Duggan had read more new medicines were coming from the country. But it was late 2022, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had just rejected a few applications for drugs that were studied only in China, including one from Eli Lilly.
When Summit announced it was licensing the cancer drug ivonescimab from Akeso, people questioned how Summit could do the deal knowing that the FDA would never accept it, said Summit’s co-CEO and president, Maky Zanganeh.
“And suddenly after us, a lot of people opened their eyes,” she said.

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Ivonescimab had already undergone early studies and was in late-stage trials in China when Summit struck the licensing deal. Summit is now running three global phase 3 trials to satisfy the FDA’s desire for drugs to be studied in diverse groups of people. 
Summit’s strategy could become more common. Investors and other industry insiders said one of the draws about doing deals with Chinese biotech companies is they can find molecules that have already undergone early studies at a lower price than in the U.S. So the U.S. businesses know what they’re getting, and they can probably get it for less.  
Gilead spends a lot of time in China looking for assets like it does in the U.S. and Europe, the company’s chief financial officer, Andrew Dickinson, told CNBC. Gilead has seen a “substantial shift” in the quality and quantity of assets being developed in China and being offered to U.S. biopharma companies.
“The transformation over the last five years is real and impressive,” Dickinson said. 

It helps that more Chinese companies need to do deals now. The amount of venture funds raised by the Chinese biotech industry cratered to just $1 billion last year from a peak of $6.3 billion in 2021, according to data provided by TCGX’s Yu. 
“Why would we do any early-stage development in the U.S. anymore?” Yu said. “Why wouldn’t we just get clinical proof of concept in China and then bring it over to the U.S. for the expensive clinical development when we actually know the drug works? And I think that could be a very revolutionary new way for our industry to become more efficient.”
That’s an opportunity – or risk – for the U.S. biopharma industry, depending on who you ask. Some, like Yu, see it as a way to bring down the price of prescription drugs. Others worry it could hobble U.S. companies if Merck and other large pharmaceutical companies pass on acquiring American startups in favor of licensing assets from China.

A worker is working on a drug production line at the production workshop of a pharmaceutical company in Meishan, China, on January 30, 2024. 
Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images

The day in December that Merck announced it was licensing an experimental obesity pill from China’s Hansoh for up to $2 billion, shares of U.S. company Viking Therapeutics plunged 18%. Viking is seen as an acquisition target since it’s developing drugs in the red-hot obesity space, and suddenly it looked like one possible suitor had chosen to spend its money elsewhere. 
People see parallels to what happened in the artificial intelligence space when China’s DeepSeek declared it had created a model that was just as good as U.S. models for much less than American companies are spending. 
President Donald Trump or U.S. policymakers could see the similar trend in biotech as a threat and intervene to stop these deals, what Yu calls the “stroke of a pen” risk. Lawmakers last year floated the Biosecure Act that would have restricted U.S. companies from working with Chinese contract manufacturers. 
Washington has already embraced protectionist policies in other competitive areas like artificial intelligence and semiconductors. It’s possible that could extend to life sciences. 
“The deeper message from DeepSeek is that we have competition in the high sciences in general, and moreover that China is making major investments to develop scientific assets,” said Stifel’s Opler.
Put another way: the race in biopharma is on.

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The Federal Communications Commission has informed Comcast it is opening an investigation into the company’s diversity, equity and inclusion practices.
The inquiry will look into the businesses of both Comcast and its media arm NBCUniversal.
The letter comes three weeks after President Donald Trump signed an executive order that calls for ending DEI hiring programs and initiatives.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump speaks to Brendan Carr, his intended pick for Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, as he attends a viewing of the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket on November 19, 2024 in Brownsville, Texas. 
Brandon Bell | Getty Images

The Federal Communications Commission has alerted Comcast Corp. that it will begin an investigation into the diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at the media giant.
The FCC, the agency that regulates the media and telecommunications industry, said in a letter dated Tuesday that it would open the inquiry into both Comcast — which provides broadband, mobile and cable TV services under the Xfinity brand — and NBCUniversal, the media arm that encompasses the company’s broadcast and cable TV networks, streaming app Peacock, and Universal film studio and amusement parks.

The letter comes three weeks after President Donald Trump signed an executive order looking to end DEI practices at U.S. corporations. The order calls for each federal agency to “identify up to nine potential civil compliance investigations” among publicly traded companies, as well as nonprofits and other institutions.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, a Republican who was recently appointed by Trump, said he was starting his investigation with Comcast and NBCUniversal because they “cover a range of sectors regulated by the FCC.”
“We have received an inquiry from the Federal Communications Commission and will be cooperating with the FCC to answer their questions,” a Comcast spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday. “For decades, our company has been built on a foundation of integrity and respect for all of our employees and customers.” 
Carr said in the letter sent to Comcast that he was “concerned that Comcast and NBCUniversal may be promoting invidious forms of DEI in a manner that does not comply with FCC regulations.”
The letter goes on to say that “Comcast states on its website that promoting DEI is ‘a core value of our business’ and public reports state that Comcast has an entire ‘DEI infrastructure’ that includes annual ‘DEI day[s],’ ‘DEI training for company leaders,’ and similar initiatives.” The letter says NBCUniversal has similar initiatives, “including executives specifically dedicated to promoting DEI across the TV and programming side of the business.”

Fellow media giant Disney is changing its DEI programs, which includes updating performance factors and rebranding initiatives and employee resource groups, among other things, the company confirmed Wednesday.
Public broadcaster PBS is shutting down its DEI office. A PBS representative confirmed that those employees were leaving the company, noting it was to stay in compliance with Trump’s executive order.
“We will continue to adhere to our mission and values. PBS will continue to reflect all of America and remain a welcoming place for everyone,” the broadcaster said in a statement.
Disclosure: Comcast owns NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC.
— CNBC’s Sarah Whitten contributed to this article. More

Olipop raised $50 million in a Series C funding round that valued the prebiotic soda brand at $1.85 billion as it competes with rivals such as Poppi.
Olipop is the top nonalcoholic brand in the U.S., both by dollar sales and unit growth, the company said, citing data from Circana/SPINS.
The drink brand is now profitable and saw annual sales of more than $400 million last year.

Super Bowl ad of Poppi.
Source: Poppi

Prebiotic soda brand Olipop said Wednesday that it was valued at $1.85 billion in its latest funding round, which raised $50 million for the company.
Founded in 2018, Olipop has helped fuel the growth of the prebiotic soda category, along with rival Poppi, which highlighted its drinks with a Super Bowl ad on Sunday. Both have attracted consumers with their claims that their drinks help with “gut health,” one of the latest wellness trends taking over food and beverage aisles.

Olipop’s Series C funding round was led by J.P. Morgan Private Capital’s Growth Equity Partners. The company plans to use the money it raised to add to its product lineup, expand its marketing and distribute its sodas more widely.
Today, Olipop is the top nonalcoholic beverage brand in the U.S., both by dollar sales and unit growth, the company said, citing data from Circana/SPINS. Roughly half its growth comes from legacy soda drinkers, while the other half comes from consumers entering the carbonated soft drink category. One in four Gen Z consumers drinks Olipop, according to the company.
In early 2024, Olipop reached profitability, the company said. Its annual sales surpassed $400 million last year, doubling the year prior. In 2023, Olipop founder and CEO Ben Goodwin told CNBC that soda giants PepsiCo and Coca-Cola had already come knocking about a potential sale.
For its part, rival Poppi, which was founded 10 years ago, has raised $39.3 million as of 2023 at an undisclosed valuation, according to Pitchbook data. Poppi’s annual sales reportedly crossed $100 million in 2023. Its appearance during the Super Bowl was the second straight year that it paid for an ad during the big game.
Poppi has also faced some backlash for its health claims. The company is currently in talks to settle a lawsuit that argued Poppi’s drinks are not as healthy as the company claims, according to court filings.

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ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith told CNBC Sport that he is not interested in campaigning but would be interested in being president.
The “First Take” host said he thinks he would do well in a presidential debate.
In a recent poll, 2% of voters said they would vote for Smith.

Outspoken ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith is not ruling out a presidential run in his future.
In an interview with CNBC Sport, Smith said, “I wouldn’t mind being in office.”

Yet, the popular television host said it is the campaigning and being a politician that turns him off.
“I’m not one of those dudes that’s great at shaking hands and kissing babies, per se, and currying favor with politicians and donors. I’m not a beggar. That’s not who I am,” Smith told CNBC Sport.
However, the 57-year-old Bronx native said he believes if he could bypass the campaigning, he would excel on television in a presidential debate.
“If you tell me that I could catapult to the White House, and I could be in a position to affect millions upon millions of lives, not just in America, but the world over, yeah, that’s something that I would entertain,” he said.
The “First Take” host has said that he voted for Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, telling Bill Maher he feels like a “damn fool” now for doing so.
In a recent poll by McLaughlin & Associates, 2% of voters said they would vote for Smith in the 2028 presidential election. More

CVS Health CEO David Joyner defended controversial pharmacy middlemen, who are widely accused of inflating prescription medication prices, and instead accused manufacturers of “monopolistic” practices that keep drug costs high in the U.S. 
Joyner, who stepped into the role in October, spent much of his opening remarks on the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call discussing so-called pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs. 
It comes at a time when lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and President Donald Trump have signaled interest in cracking down on PBMs. 

David Joyner, a longtime CVS executive, speaks during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on May 10, 2023.
Al Drago | Bloomberg | Getty Images

CVS Health CEO David Joyner on Wednesday defended controversial pharmacy middlemen like his company’s Caremark unit, which are widely accused of inflating prescription medication prices, and instead accused manufacturers of “monopolistic tendencies” that keep drug costs high in the U.S. 
Joyner, who stepped into the role in October, spent much of his opening remarks on the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call discussing so-called pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs. It was atypical for CVS’ quarterly call to begin that way, but comes at a time when lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and President Donald Trump have signaled interest in cracking down on PBMs. 

CVS owns Caremark, one of the nation’s three largest PBMs that collectively administer roughly 80% of prescriptions in the U.S.
Those middlemen negotiate rebates with drug manufacturers on behalf of insurers, create lists of medications known as formularies that are covered by insurance and reimburse pharmacies for prescriptions. But lawmakers and drugmakers alike argue that PBMs overcharge the plans they negotiate rebates for, underpay pharmacies and fail to pass on savings from those discounts to patients.
Joyner acknowledged that rising health-care costs in the U.S. are pressuring patients, employers and the federal government. He blamed factors such as increased patient utilization of services, rising health-care provider costs, labor shortages and “dramatic price hikes” for branded drugs. 
But he said PBMs like Caremark are “one of the most powerful forces helping to offset rising health care costs,” claiming that they are the only part of the drug supply chain solely focused on lowering costs. 
“Our work is a critical counterbalance to the monopolistic tendencies of drug manufacturers,” Joyner said. “This is why PBMs are needed and why manufacturers fight so hard to limit our capabilities.” 

He alleged that branded manufacturers added $21 billion in annual gross drug spending in the first three weeks of January through their price hikes, but did not cite where the figure is from. 
Joyner added that multiple economists have estimated that PBMs generate net value for the U.S. health-care system, more than $100 billion a year.
“No one has demonstrated more success than the PBMs of driving down drug prices,” he said.
However, the pharmaceutical industry and lawmakers argue that PBMs and insurers pocket those savings from negotiated rebates and discounts rather than passing them to patients.
In a statement on Wednesday, PhRMA, the nation’s largest lobbying group for the pharmaceutical industry said PBMs are “under intense, well-deserved scrutiny.” 
“Bipartisan state attorneys general, policymakers in both Congress and state legislatures and the FTC are all investigating these health care conglomerates,” a PhRMA spokesperson said. “They’ve all come to the same conclusion: PBMs are driving up costs and reducing access at the expense of patients, employers, and our health care system.” More

Biogen posted fourth-quarter revenue and profit that topped expectations as its cost cuts showed progress and new products, including its breakthrough Alzheimer’s treatment Leqembi, saw growth. 
The biotech company issued a full-year 2025 adjusted earnings outlook of $15.25 to $16.25 per share, which fell short of the $16.34 per share that Wall Street was expecting.
Biogen expects to generate $1 billion in gross savings, or $800 million net savings, by the end of 2025. 

A test tube is seen in front of displayed Biogen logo in this illustration taken on, December 1, 2021.
Dado Ruvic | Reuters

Biogen on Wednesday posted fourth-quarter revenue and profit that topped expectations as its cost cuts showed progress and new products, including its breakthrough Alzheimer’s treatment Leqembi, saw growth. 
But the biotech company’s guidance for the current year missed Wall Street’s expectations. Biogen issued a full-year 2025 adjusted earnings outlook of $15.25 to $16.25 per share, which fell short of the $16.34 per share that analysts were anticipating, according to LSEG. That reflects a foreign exchange headwind of 35 cents per share, Biogen said.  

Biogen expects revenue to decline by a “mid-single digit” percentage in 2025 compared with 2024, as sales of its multiple sclerosis products fall. That portion of the business has declined for several quarters as some of those therapies face generic competition. 

More CNBC health coverage

But Biogen expects Leqembi, along with its new rare disease and depression treatments, to help offset that sliding revenue this year. 
Leqembi generated $87 million in revenue for the fourth quarter, including $50 million in the U.S. Analysts had expected the drug to book $67 million in sales, according to estimates from StreetAccount. 
Leqembi, which Biogen shares with the Japanese drugmaker Eisai, became the second drug proven to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s to win approval in the U.S. in 2023. The therapy’s launch has been gradual due to bottlenecks related to diagnostic test requirements, the need for regular brain scans and the difficulty of finding neurologists, among other issues. 
Here’s what Biogen reported for the fourth quarter compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG: 

Earnings per share: $3.44 adjusted vs. $3.35 per share expected
Revenue: $2.46 billion vs. $2.40 billion expected

Biogen booked sales of $2.46 billion for the quarter, which is up around 3% from the year-earlier period. 
The drugmaker posted net income of $266.8 million, or $1.83 per share, for the quarter. That compares with net income of $249.7 million, or $1.71 per share, for the same period a year ago. 
Adjusting for one-time items, including certain restructuring charges and costs associated with intangible assets, the company reported earnings of $3.44 per share.
Biogen first initiated a cost-cutting program in 2023. The company expects to generate $1 billion in gross savings, or $800 million net savings, by the end of 2025. 
Also on Wednesday, Royalty Pharma announced an agreement to provide $250 million in research and development funding to Biogen for litifilimab, a key drug in its pipeline that is being studied to treat lupus. Royalty Pharma, a leading funder of the biotech and pharmaceutical industry, will be eligible for regulatory milestones and certain royalties.

Other new drugs

Another new drug, Skyclarys, booked $102 million in sales for the fourth quarter, almost double what it reported in the year-earlier period.
Analysts had expected sales of around $112 million for the quarter, according to StreetAccount. 
Skyclarys came from Biogen’s acquisition of Reata Pharmaceuticals in July 2023. The Food and Drug Administration greenlit Skyclarys in 2023, making it the first approved treatment for Friedreich’s ataxia, a rare inherited degenerative disease that can impair walking and coordination in children as young as 5. 
Zurzuvae, the first pill for postpartum depression, generated fourth-quarter sales of $22.9 million. Analysts had expected it to post $26 million in sales, StreetAccount estimates said.
Meanwhile, Biogen’s fourth-quarter sales from multiple sclerosis treatments fell 8% to $1.07 billion.
Correction: Biogen’s fourth-quarter sales from multiple sclerosis treatments fell to $1.07 billion. An earlier version misstated the period.

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CVS Health reported fourth-quarter revenue and profit that topped estimates, even as its troubled insurance business saw higher medical costs. 
The company also issued a full-year 2025 adjusted profit outlook of $5.75 to $6.00 per share, which was in line with Wall Street’s expectations.
It caps off the first full quarter with David Joyner, a longtime CVS executive, as CEO of the troubled retail drugstore chain.

CVS Health on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter revenue and profit that topped estimates, even as its troubled insurance business continued to see higher medical costs. 
The company also issued a full-year 2025 adjusted earnings outlook of $5.75 to $6 per share, which was in line with Wall Street’s expectations. But CVS did not provide a revenue forecast for the year. 

It caps off the first full quarter with David Joyner, a longtime CVS executive, as CEO of the troubled retail drugstore chain. Joyner succeeded Karen Lynch in mid-October, as CVS struggled to drive higher profits and improve its stock performance.
The company underwent a management reshuffle as part of a broader turnaround plan that includes $2 billion in cost cuts over the next several years. CVS has grappled with rising costs in its insurance unit, Aetna, and a retail pharmacy business pressured by softer consumer spending and lower reimbursements for prescription drugs. 
Here’s what CVS reported for the fourth quarter compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG: 

Earnings per share: $1.19 per share adjusted vs. 93 cents per share expected
Revenue: $97.71 billion vs. $97.19 billion expected

The company’s shares rose 10% in premarket trading.
CVS and other insurers such as UnitedHealth Group and Humana have seen medical costs spike over the last year as more Medicare Advantage patients return to hospitals for procedures they delayed during the pandemic. 

Medicare Advantage, a privately run health insurance plan contracted by Medicare, has long been a driver of growth and profits for insurers. But investors have become concerned about the runaway costs tied to those plans, which cover more than half of all Medicare beneficiaries. 
CVS booked sales of $97.71 billion for the fourth quarter, up 4.2% from the same period a year ago due to growth in its pharmacy business and insurance unit. 
The company posted net income of $1.64 billion, or $1.30 per share, for the fourth quarter. That compares with net income of $2.05 billion, or $1.58 per share, for the year-earlier period. 
Excluding certain items, such as amortization of intangible assets, restructuring charges and capital losses, adjusted earnings were $1.19 per share for the quarter.
CVS said its fourth-quarter earnings reflect higher medical costs in its insurance business and lower Medicare Advantage star ratings for the 2024 payment year, both of which weighed on the segment’s operating results for the quarter. Those star ratings help Medicare patients compare the quality of Medicare health and drug plans. 

Pressure on insurance unit

All three of CVS’ business segments beat Wall Street’s expectations for the fourth quarter.
CVS’ insurance business booked $32.96 billion in revenue during the quarter, up more than 23% from the fourth quarter of 2023. Analysts expected the unit to take in $32.89 billion for the period, according to estimates from StreetAccount.
But the business reported an adjusted operating loss of $439 million for the fourth quarter, compared with adjusted operating income of $676 million in the year-earlier period. That change was driven by higher medical costs and the company’s Medicare Advantage star ratings, among other factors.

More CNBC health coverage

The insurance unit’s medical benefit ratio — a measure of total medical expenses paid relative to premiums collected — increased to 94.8% from 88.5% a year earlier. A lower ratio typically indicates that a company collected more in premiums than it paid out in benefits, resulting in higher profitability.
The fourth-quarter ratio was lower than the 95.9% that analysts were expecting, StreetAccount estimates said.
CVS’ health services segment generated $47.02 billion in revenue for the quarter, down more than 4% compared with the same quarter in 2023. Analysts expected the unit to post $44.06 billion in sales for the period, according to StreetAccount.
That unit includes Caremark, one of the nation’s largest pharmacy benefit managers. Caremark negotiates drug discounts with manufacturers on behalf of insurance plans and creates lists of medications, or formularies, that are covered by insurance and reimburses pharmacies for prescriptions.
CVS’ health services division processed 499.4 million pharmacy claims during the quarter, down from 600.8 million during the year-ago period due to the loss of an unnamed large client. Tyson Foods told CNBC in January 2024 that it dropped CVS as the pharmacy benefit manager for its roughly 140,000 employees, but it is unclear if any other companies stopped working with CVS during the year, as well.
CVS’ pharmacy and consumer wellness division booked $33.51 billion in sales for the fourth quarter, up more than 7% from the same period a year earlier. Analysts expected sales of $33.03 billion for the quarter, StreetAccount said.
That unit dispenses prescriptions in CVS’ more than 9,000 retail pharmacies and provides other pharmacy services, such as vaccinations and diagnostic testing.
The increase was partly driven by higher prescription volume, CVS said. Pharmacy reimbursement pressure, the launch of new generic drugs and lower volume from front-of-store items like pantry food and toiletries, including from decreased store count, weighed on the unit’s sales.

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Tom Brady will acquire a 50% stake in CardVault.
The company will change its name to “CardVault by Tom Brady.”
Card collecting has surged since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady is entering the sports collectibles space.
Brady will acquire a 50% stake in CardVault, a sports card and memorabilia retailer, the company announced on Wednesday.

As part of the deal, CardVault will change its name to “CardVault by Tom Brady,” and is planning to rapidly scale its footprint. Card collecting has experienced a resurgence since the Covid-19 pandemic, leading to record sale prices.
The sports collectibles retailer currently has locations at TD Garden in Boston; Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts; and Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut. The company will open a new flagship location this spring at American Dream mall, next to MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, and said it is actively identifying new locations in other sports hubs.

CardVault retail store in Boston

“This isn’t just about buying and selling cards; it’s about curating history, building community, turning fans into collectors, and giving them access to own great moments in sports,” Brady said in a statement.
CardVault was founded in 2020 as a way for collectors to buy, sell, grade and trade cards. The store also sells memorabilia.
The company is planning to expand its digital content as it looks to reach new collectors and investors.

This isn’t Brady’s first foray in the collectibles space. In December, he put his valuable watch collection up for sale at Sotheby’s.
The former quarterback was also seen buying up cards at Fanatics Fest in August.
“Sports collectibles and cards have been part of my DNA since childhood, and CardVault has set the gold standard for what a modern fan experience should be,” Brady said. More