Plus deals involving Abbisko/Merck & Co., Astellas/Phenomic AI, PRISM Biolab/Lilly and WuXi Biologics/Myricx.

Public Company Edition: Blackstone Life Sciences Yield will finance approved products, while the firm’s prior fund supports late-stage programs. Also, Coeptis will merge with a SPAC, Bausch + Lomb secured post-IPO debt, and BioXcel revealed a $260m financing and new subsidiary.

Seeing strong sales with legacy Allergan’s Vraylar, AbbVie teams with Gedeon Richter on novel dopamine receptor modulators. AB Studio, CR Biopharma partner on COVID-19 neutralizing antibody.

By hijacking a process that cells use to keep themselves shipshape, targeted protein degradation has become a hot new area of drug development. In Vivo takes an in-depth look at the field ahead of a wave of data expected this year from early candidates that will give some insight into whether this strategy will truly open a new way to combat disease.