Most roads led to India in 2020 when it came to deals to expand access to COVID-19 therapies, but the challenging year also saw significant private equity interest and there are expectations of more action ahead in the new year.

Having just entered into drug discovery partnerships with Surface Oncology and Adrestia, GSK is paying £34m upfront to team up with Sosei Heptares to evaluate treatments for gastrointestinal immune disorders.

China’s Bio-Thera has struck a licensing deal with Biomm that will give the Brazilian company exclusive rights to market the BAT1706 bevacizumab biosimilar in its home market.

Public Company Edition: Lixte’s small uplisting was the only biopharma initial public offering in the US during Thanksgiving week, but IPOs are ramping up again. Also, LifeSci launched its second SPAC and in follow-on offerings Reata brought in $281m and Intellia grossed $175m.