"We're not resting on our laurels," pRED head William Pao said in an early R&D overview. The company's R&D leaders highlighted drugs in oncology, neuroscience and ophthalmology.

Anthos premiers with $250m from Blackstone and cardiovascular disease assets and expertise from Novartis, while Maze brings in $191m for drugs that target gene modifiers. In public company financings, Sage raises $575m ahead of Zulresso approval decision.

AbbVie and existing partner Voyager Therapeutics are attempting to cross the blood-brain barrier with a new collaboration on vectorized antibodies to treat Parkinson’s disease and other synucleinopathies such as Lewy body dementia and multiple system atrophy.

The mega-merger would be the third largest in biopharma history, but some analysts wonder if other suitors will try to acquire Bristol before the deal closes. Celgene’s partners, and their investors, are concerned about the ramifications.