Derived from Strategic Transactions, Informa’s premium source for tracking life sciences deal activity, the Dealmaking column is a survey of recent health care transactions listed by relevant industry segment – In Vitro Diagnostics, Medical Devices, and Pharmaceuticals – and then categorized by type – Acquisition, Alliance, or Financing. This month’s column covers deals announced in January 2017

PwC anticipates a streamlining of the FDA approval process could address asset scarcity. AbbVie begins 2017 with three modest-sized deals, while PharmAthene and Altimmune join forces in a reverse-merger.

Receptor Logic has a means of making antibodies that mimic the scouting and identifying functions of T-cells by binding to peptides that appear on the surface of cells, within the frame of the major histocompatability complex. The start-up thinks its antibodies will accelerate research on T-cell-stimulating vaccines (versus prophylactic ones) and will ultimately serve as therapeutics in their own right.