The UK firm’s obe-cel has met the primary endpoint in a Phase II acute lymphocytic leukemia trial, triggering filing plans and a $150m public offering as observers commend the drug’s competitive safety profile.

Terray/Calico tie-up will focus on small molecule discovery for diseases of aging, including cancer. Lilly, AstraZeneca sign discovery pacts with Nimbus and Illumina, respectively.

Pharma will partner with SyntheX on targeted protein degradation, with Autolus on cell therapy safety. Novo Nordisk gets rights to Ventus’s lead compound in NASH and chronic kidney disease.

The market for new company creation in the biopharma sector remains healthy and poised to continue fostering the establishment of start-ups, based on a new In Vivo study of the strong initial investments that pharma and biotech companies receive.