After CEO David Loew declared again that Ipsen would be very active in the dealmaking space, Ipsen is paying $45m upfront to access two immuno-oncology candidates from Marengo and bagged an ERK inhibitor from AGV Discovery.

Private Company Edition: As venture capital funding continues at a robust pace relative to public company financings, Knopp Biosciences and Population Health Partners launched Areteia with enough cash to fund Phase III asthma trials and Qiming revealed new VC funds totaling $2.5bn and $700m.

Ipsen CEO David Loew recently told Scrip that a return to more rational valuations for biotechs should led to more deals. The Epizyme acquisition could be the first of many by the French group this year.

David Loew has assembled a strong business development team which secured seven licensing pacts in 2021 and the Ipsen CEO tells Scrip that this year should see more of the same.