The UK’s purchase of 60 million extra Pfizer/BioNTech COVID vaccine doses, plus bets on Novavax and Valneva and others gives it a buffer against new variants – so when will it pledge to donate to more needy nations?

Private Company Edition: Dyno’s first VC round will enable more deals for its novel AAV platform; Eikon pioneers new drug discovery technology. Also, Treeline’s early funding revealed at $211.7m; Capsida raised $140m from a VC round, AbbVie deal; and Affinia closed a $110m series B round. 

As the US responds to calls to waive intellectual property rights related to COVID-19 vaccines, China is already moving ahead with some of its own mRNA candidates.

During the first quarter, medical device company mergers and acquisition totalled $10.2bn, while in vitro diagnostic firms and research tools players completed M&A activity that totaled $5bn.