Deal snapshot: Akari, which has stayed afloat through small financings in recent years, and Peak Bio, after going public via the SPAC route in 2022, will merge as equals and then prioritize their pipeline.

Private Company Edition: In the first week of April, Cure Ventures launched with a $350m fund, the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Fund received $200m for its venture philanthropy strategy and Canaan revealed $850m in new funds. Also, OnKure raised $53.7m and Phlow closed a $36m series B round. 

Public Company Edition: PTC will get $350m up front as part of an initial $500m commitment. Also, while Biohaven and Vaxcyte launched traditional follow-on offerings, Recursion and Agios took the private placement and royalty sale routes, while others revealed job cuts and other strategic updates. 

National Resilience, Parker Institute team to incubate cancer startups. Metropolitan AntiViral Drug Accelerator will focus on eight molecular features of SARS-CoV-2 to create novel oral antivirals.