Private Company Edition: VC mega-rounds boosted the Q1 2021 total. Also, new funds from Versant, The Column Group and Rapha Capital keep cash flowing into biopharma; up to $525m is invested in Exscientia; and Arch Oncology and Boundless Bio raised $105m each, while Forge brought in $120m.

In tandem with buying the rest of Kleo, Tonix licenses molecular degradation technology from Yale. Neurogene, University of Dundee partner on cell therapies for neurological disorders.

With $1.1bn in cash plus revenue from its existing commercial products and royalties from Roche’s sales of newly approved Evrysdi to invest in R&D, PTC Therapeutics may achieve profitability in 2023.

Jeffrey Aronin, who presided over Marathon Pharmaceuticals during a drug-pricing kerfuffle that drew congressional scrutiny, has built a portfolio of new drug companies at Paragon Biosciences.