Lilly looks To Elektrofi for help on subcutaneous injectable therapies, while NAYA will merge with INVO and acquire two antibodies from Cytovia. Plus deals involving Hummingbird/Endeavor, Basilea/Gravitas/Intron, Lilly/Mablink and Sotio/Synaffix.

Special purpose acquisition companies can bring biopharma firms to market faster than a traditional initial public offering, but frequent failures and increased scrutiny from the US Securities and Exchange Commission mean their heyday in the life sciences space is arguably over.

French Biotech In Focus: Amid a global biotech funding boom last year, French biotech saw a rise in the number of high-value financing rounds while its firms adopt savvy licensing strategies.

Also, Cytovia will go public via SPAC merger, Nkarta capitalized on its positive early NK cell therapy data with a $230m offering, and venture capital mega-rounds include $220m for Reify, $110m for Satellite Bio and $100m for OMass Therapeutics.