Public Company Edition: Legend Biotech raised $424m in its US public market debut. Also, Pfizer commits up to $500m for equity investments and Allogene capitalizes on ASCO with a $550m offering.

Mereo BioPharma’s completed private placement in the US will support clinical studies of its candidate immuno-oncology product etigilimab and a later-stage anti-sclerotin antibody product with potential in the treatment of brittle bone disease.

A collaboration between Novo and Fauna will look at animal hibernation and genetic sequencing for hints toward novel therapies for obesity. Pfizer will use Insilico’s machine learning technology in target validation.

China was a focus of discussions at the 2020 J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, as a Phase One trade agreement was signed to end a 17-month dispute with the US. Patent linkage and IP protection enforcement are also being closely watched, while Chinese firms including BeiGene continue to make strides in oncology deal-making.