As the usual flurry of deals coincides with the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, AbbVie signed an mRNA pact with Anima and a cancer research tie-up with Immunome.

EQT and Goldman Sachs to pay $8.5bn in Parexel’s second private equity buyout in four years.

Deals involving Hoth/Voltron, Vir/Xencor, Akers/Premas, WPD/CNS address coronavirus outbreak. Separately, Roche and Forge hope to develop a novel antibiotic for Gram-negative infections using the LpxC enzyme.

In an exclusive interview, Barbara Lueckel, global head of research technologies at Roche Pharma Partnering, talks about the rationale behind the 2020 deals with Bicycle Therapeutics and Nimble Therapeutics. She gives insight into how deal makers are shifting gears to make deals happen in the challenging environment of the global coronavirus pandemic.