Gilead has waived its option to acquire Pionyr, allowing the US biotech to explore other partnerships and financing opportunities as it advances a promising pipeline of macrophage-targeting antibodies.

In February, Jounce’s future looked bleak after the failure of vopratelimab and fears that its finances would run out. Now, it has two suitors with Concentra making a bid to compete with an all-stock merger with the UK’s Redx.

When the traditional fundraising window closes and clinical, regulatory or commercial success eludes, other routes to raise cash emerge. But these have also become more scarce recently, leaving all-stock consolidations.

With cash preservation in mind, Rubius will dissolve, while EQRx, Impel, Cybin and Graphite cut jobs. Meanwhile, Jounce is restructuring and it plans to merge with Redx, yet the dually troubled firms MEI Pharma and Infinity will combine, while VBL will disappear in a reverse merger with Notable Labs.