Irish biotech focused on Endobody vaccine candidates partners with Boston U. in CTE and U. of Texas in Alzheimer’s. Lupus Research Alliance affiliate will help Bristol conduct a Phase II trial of Tyk2 inhibitor in lupus.

China's JW Therapeutics nets $90m for cancer cell therapy, including backing from biotechs Celgene and WuXi. Meanwhile, Foghorn sounds out a $50m A round for its gene trafficking technology applications.

Though vastly underreported, new cases of Lyme in the US total more than 300,000 a year; its incidence now exceeds infections for far more visible conditions like HIV. A higher profile for Lyme is hobbled by a slow and distorted institutional response, especially among clinicians who disagree on whether Lyme is one disease or a complex constellation of many – much like cancer, but without the commitment.

Q3 medtech financing doubled in dollar volume to $3 billion, with debt offerings again representing the majority of the aggregate; acquisitions totaled $5.3 billion, mainly due to Johnson & Johnson’s $4.3 billion buy of Abbott Medical Optics. Diagnostics financings, which brought in $85 million, continued to decline, but at $5 billion, acquisitions showed a slight increase over the previous quarter, with Danaher’s takeover of Cepheid accounting for most of the M&A volume.