Public Company Edition: Three companies postponed or withdrew their offerings, but drug developers continue to pursue IPOs. Also, Biocon, BMS and Epizyme raised money through new debt, Five Prime capitalized on positive data and Synthetic Biologic engaged a strategic advisor.

Co-founded by Sebastian Nijman and Thijn Brummelkamp in 2017, Scenic Biotech is a spinout of the Netherlands Cancer Institute and Oxford University. It was established with a focus on identifying genetic modifiers, or genes that suppress or block the disease-causing effects of a mutated gene in the body. In Vivo spoke with incoming CEO Oscar Izeboud about the company’s next steps, and the potential for genetic modifiers to address unmet needs in the rare disease space, and beyond.

The company agreed to pay $930m up front to acquire Achillion, which has two drugs in Phase II development for complement alternative pathway-mediated rare diseases.

GSK hopes the San Francisco biotech’s technology can help its cell therapy pipeline address solid tumors. Avacta partners with ADC on antibody-drug conjugates.