Akebia brings in Cyclerion’s diabetes candidate praliciguat, plus deals involving Genmab/Bolt, Auris/Trasir, Zymergen/Lodo, Bavarian Nordic/Dynavax and more.

Competition to GlaxoSmithKline’s Benlysta in the systemic lupus erythematosus space finally looks imminent with approval decisions on AstraZeneca's anifrolumab pending. The company has presented more data at EULAR to make its case for the first-in-class type I interferon inhibitor.

This week's roundup includes senior appointments by Prana Biotechnology, Octapharma, Silence Therapeutics and ABPI, in addition to board appointments by Gamida Cell and Allergy Therapeutics.

Merck could pay up to $167m to try a new epigenetic target, which would build on its existing HDAC inhibitor. Meanwhile, Celgene buys epigenetics-focused Acetylon, which will spin out new company Regenacy to work with its lead HDAC6 inhibitor outside of oncology.