Vertex and CRISPR look beyond beta thalassemia and sickle cell disease. Also, Bicycle gets $50m up front in Novartis deal, Regeneron commits $75m initially under a Treg collaboration with Sonoma, and Jounce gets a better deal from Concentra to wave off Redx merger.

Two pharma companies have made an offer for Sorrento Therapeutics that could triple the pain management and immune-oncology specialist's value but the San Diego-based group is holding firm.

Only 16 drug developers that went public in the US during the first three quarters are trading in positive territory. While the IPO queue keeps growing, ADC Therapeutics and Monopar cite "market conditions" as they postpone their offerings.

While the proposed Bristol/Celgene merger nears an April vote, Celgene continues a recent spate of deal-making, paying $25m up front to Exscientia to discover small molecule candidates for cancer and autoimmune disease.