New company licenses obicetrapib from Amgen after previous companies’ setbacks in CETP class and works with FDA on a Phase III protocol. BMS buys protein-engineering specialist Forbius.

AlloVir/Baylor, Soligenix/Hawaii and CEL-SCI/Georgia ink coronavirus collaborations, but deal-making continues in other areas as well, including Asklepios/UNC teaming on a gene therapy for Angelman syndrome and DeMelle licensing a targeted pancreatic cancer drug from Moffitt, among others.

While some companies rushed into gene therapy and exited after a single setback, Asklepios BioPharmaceutical quietly advanced its programs, identifying challenges and overcoming them one at a time. Now, it's ready to advance multiple programs into the clinic.

Pascal and Oblato separately license therapeutic candidates for glioblastoma multiforme, while Cabaletta emerges from UPenn with novel program for CAAR-T therapies in B-cell mediated autoimmune disease.