Private Company Edition: Venture capital invested in pharma and biotech in 2020 totaled $19.5m through Q3, just $400m below the full-year record total of $19.9bn in 2018. Also, Canaan and Catalio reveal new VC funds, while Talaris’s $115m series B leads recent financings.

The role of biopharma start-ups in bringing innovative therapies to the market has grown enormously. These waves of new specialist companies often have the most innovative approaches to targeting a disease, and big pharma has become increasingly reliant on their fresh ideas to power pipelines. 

COVID-19 has introduced new challenges (and more attorneys) into the biopharma deal-making environment, but experts say the fundamentals for deal activity point toward a rebound. Companies that adapt quickly to changes – in communication, due diligence and deal structure – will make successful connections in a time of social distancing.

The two RNAi firms cross-license IP from their PH programs, while also partnering on a rare liver disease candidate. GSK invests $250m in Vir and will help to advance its antibody candidates for COVID-19.