ICU Medical will pay about $500m in stock, $1.85bn in cash, and assume certain liabilities to acquire the medical division of Smiths Group. Smiths is also eligible for $100m in milestone payments from ICU Medical. The deal is better than the $2.3bn offer Smiths got from a subsidiary of private equity firm TA Associates earlier in August.

A plasmid DNA vaccine for human use has moved a step closer to reality, with Zydus Cadila applying for an accelerated nod for its COVID-19 candidate in India. 67% efficacy reported in an interim data readout and Delta variant being the prominent strain during a Phase III trial imply better odds for approval.

India’s Granules has grown through increased market penetration of its existing products as well as new product launches. The company is planning to invest in expanding its API capacity, finished dosages and a new multiple unit pellet facility.

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.