All-stock merger will create new company owned 75% by Adaptimmune’s shareholders. Grifols, Selagine to explore antibody approach to treating dry eye disease, and other recent deals.

As the usual flurry of deals coincides with the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, AbbVie signed an mRNA pact with Anima and a cancer research tie-up with Immunome.

Private Company Edition: Pitchbook is out with an early look at its venture capital expectations for next year, showing continued interest in seed financings and fewer $100m-plus mega-rounds. Recent VC deals include a $75m series B financing for Alpha-9 Theranostics and $71.6m for A2 Biotherapeutics. 

Private Company Edition: In the latest round of $100m-plus venture capital financings, CG Oncology, MBX Biosciences and Jnana Therapeutics raised $120m, $115m and $107m, respectively. Also, MVM Partners closed a $500m fund and former Sage CEO leads incubator ABio-X in Massachusetts.