J&J will pay about $6.5bn to acquire Momenta and its potential “pipeline in a pathway” with nipocalimab. Analysts expect this deal may lead to further M&A activity in the anti-FcRn space.

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.

Poseida, Nkarta and Inventiva raised $224m, $252m and $107.7m, respectively. Also, Forbion raised €185m ($208m) of a new €250m fund and Blackstone closed the last $1.2bn of its $4.6bn fund for public and private company deals, and Ascendis led recent follow-ons with a $569.2m offering.

Public Company Edition: After an initial hit to valuations from COVID-19, massive amounts of money have been raised by drug developers, such as argenx with a $862.5m stock sale. However, only two IPOs launched in the US in May, including ADC with a $267m offering.