Akebia brings in Cyclerion’s diabetes candidate praliciguat, plus deals involving Genmab/Bolt, Auris/Trasir, Zymergen/Lodo, Bavarian Nordic/Dynavax and more.

Meanwhile, seven former US FDA commissioners issue joint plea for trust in the scientific integrity of the agency.

Daiichi Sankyo pays $150m upfront to commercialize Esperion's cholesterol drug and combination in Europe, while Gilead enters major deal worth up to $785m with Korea's Yuhan to bolster its NASH portfolio. Samsung taps 3SBio to build its biosimilars business in China. 

Biopharma companies closed out 2016 with $9.6 billion in financing, the strongest quarter of the year. M&A deals reached $12.2 billion in value, led by Lonza's takeover of Capsugel; most of the fourth quarter's largest partnerships were built around innovative platforms in antibodies, peptides and gene therapy.