Collaboration Edition: Including deals involving Evotec/Variant, Sanofi/IGM/Nurix, ABVC/OncoX and Harmony/Bioprojet, along with tech transfer agreements and deals in brief.

Biotech entrepreneurs tend to be an optimistic group, and there were many pockets of hope for 2024. However, the consensus remains that depressed valuations and paucity of fresh funds will continue to pose a challenge for the sector, and companies will need to prioritize carefully and work even harder to demonstrate and create value.

Private Company Edition: Former Merck R&D head Roger Perlmutter and his new team have accessed drug candidates in oncology and neurodegenerative diseases from three companies, along with new funding. Also, Carmot raised $150m in series E equity and BenchSci brought in $70m.

The Canadian firm’s bispecific antibody asset improved response rates in advanced biliary tract cancer patients, potentially setting it up to become the first HER2-targeted drug approved for the disease.