Pfizer agreed to pay up to $2.4bn to share development and commercialization costs for Arvinas’ estrogen receptor degrader, including in combination with Ibrance.

Private Company Edition: Amylyx will use its new cash to run a Phase III trial and submit applications seeking EU and Canadian approvals of AMX0035, but US filing plans based on prior Phase II/III data are less clear. Also, three VC firms raised new funds targeting biopharma and other investments.

The REDWOOD-HCM study showed early, sustained efficacy and no serious adverse events with a drug Cytokinetics designed to be superior to mavacamten, a drug it spun out via BMS-acquired MyoKardia.

Public Company Edition: Three $100m-plus US initial public offerings launched on 15 July after two smaller biopharma IPOs earlier in the month. Also, Gelesis announced a SPAC merger, Brii and Amniotics launched ex-US IPOs, and Intellia, Cerevel and Kymera priced large follow-on offerings. 

Wugen has worked on its platform in stealth mode while co-founders at Washington University in St. Louis tested initial product WU-NK-101 in AML. Its new funding will support company-sponsored trials. 

Private Company Edition: With $8.9bn raised in the second quarter, venture capital investment in biopharma companies reached its second highest quarterly total to date – behind only Q1 of this year. Also, Nimbus Therapeutics raised $105m and European drug developers get in on the VC action.