Public Company Edition: The last biopharma IPO in the US was on 17 February and none have been scheduled, so far, for March. Also, another SPAC merger is called off, Travere sells $275m worth of notes and Xeris secures $150m in new debt, while Ovid, Passage Bio and others are cutting jobs. 

The pandemic created a tough environment for sales of both newly launched products and growing products, especially for small-to-medium enterprises. Scrip reviewed the second quarter earnings calls for several SMEs: some are continuing to feel pressure, and some are starting to recover. [See Part 1 for companies reporting a turnaround.]

Taysha gains control of GAN candidate and program; BI licenses COMT inhibitors from Lieber Institute; plus three new gene therapy-driven tie-ups between biopharma and academia.

In tandem with buying the rest of Kleo, Tonix licenses molecular degradation technology from Yale. Neurogene, University of Dundee partner on cell therapies for neurological disorders.