Public Company Edition: Merging with a special purpose acquisition corporation may be an attractive alternative to an initial public offering, but February’s vigorous IPO pace includes seven recent offerings that raised $480.8m in the US. Also, Cassava raised $200m and KalVista brought in $222.5m.

The ABV 8 fund will invest $15m to $30m per company across the range from start-ups to development-stage companies.

The latest group of new product approvals in Japan includes the first marketing clearances worldwide for fracture-reducing osteoporosis antibody romosozumab and a stem cell-based therapy for spinal cord injury, as well as two new Daiichi drugs and Pfizer's lung cancer therapy dacomitinib. 

European biotechs are likely to be the big winner as transatlantic VC Abingworth closes its latest fund, Abingworth Ventures VII (ABV VII), at $315m, exceeding its $300m target.