Public Company Edition: Four health care special purpose acquisition vehicles went public and two others announced mergers, but only one biopharma firm priced an IPO during the week of 19-23 October. Replimune’s $250m offering led recent FOPOs.

Public Company Edition: The German mRNA-focused company could raise up to $245m based on its proposed price range, but investor interest could drive the offering’s total higher. Also, Perceptive launches another SPAC, Regeneron sells $2bn in debt and Biohaven secures up to $950m. 

Start-up Insitro will attempt to optimize up to five NASH targets for Gilead under three-year alliance. Catalent buys gene therapy CDMO Paragon for $1.2bn, Boehringer partners with PureTech in GI cancer, while Fibrocell inks gene therapy pact with Castle Creek.

Denali will collaborate with Sirion in Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. Meanwhile, Lundbeck and Elevian unveil drug development partnerships with technology firms at the J.P. Morgan meeting.