Merck & Co's proposed acquisition of Acceleron and a couple of big purchases from Sanofi drove up the value of the sector's M&A activities, according to the latest report from Biomedtracker

Private Company Edition: The astonishing pace of venture capital investment in drug development continues with another $1.5bn in financings of $100m or more, including $152m for Pyxis and $126m for Omega. New VC funds also continue to launch, including RiverVest’s fifth fund, totaling $275m.

Curon thinks tenalisib can offer a differentiated and safe new therapy for hematologic cancers such as multiple forms of lymphoma. Axis and PharmaEssentia team up on TCR therapy R&D in Taiwan.

The company is running a pilot program to allow glioblastoma patients who use Novocure’s Optune Tumor Treating Fields device to download data from the device at home.