Public Company Edition: The new year started with two companies signaling plans for significant near-term initial public offerings, following Inhibikase’s launch as the last IPO of 2020. Other recent financial highlights include layoffs at Calithera and Regenxbio’s $200m Zolgensma royalty sale.

Although SRF813 isn’t likely to reach the clinic until 2021, GSK likes cell therapy’s monotherapy and combination potential. Lilly bids $880m to acquire neurodegenerative cell therapy firm Prevail.

US FDA’s Peter Marks says companies are not exchanging information about adenoviral factors, which is probably slowing down the field. He describes NIH's plans for a bespoke gene therapy consortium for vector generation and continued efforts for regulatory harmonization.

The Swiss firm that discovered Biogen’s Alzheimer’s therapy aducanumab has built a pipeline of clinical programs across neurological and other diseases and may seek additional partners as candidates advance.