With only weeks to go in 2022, the three major pharmas each had inked between 16 and 20 deals. Meanwhile, Pfizer has been less busy with 12 deals, but those include M&A totaling $18.2bn.

Roche is paying $125m upfront to in-license potential blockbuster lead candidate camonsertib from Repare, which calls it a best-in-class ATR inhibitor and has the chance to opt back in on US commercialization.

Deal Snapshot: The drug maker is betting $30m up front and up to $1.1bn in milestone fees for an increasingly popular approach to oncology drug development.

EcoR1 and Casdin/Corvex took their second and third special purpose acquisition corporations public. Also, Ionis sold notes to buy back older notes and fund operations as it cut 70% of Akcea’s staff. In venture capital, ValenzaBio raised $70m and RA boosted Metagenomi’s series A to $75m.