Around 100 executives highlight the hot areas to watch on the R&D front in 2021. From cancer to CNS and from regenerative medicine to real world data, expectations are high on many fronts.

Merck & Co joins ranks of big pharma firms pursuing the SHP2 area of oncology as it picks up global rights to a portfolio of inhibitors originating from two affiliates of Japan's Otsuka Pharmaceutical.

Public Company Edition: Initial public offerings may take a holiday break, but 2020 already has been a remarkable year for IPOs in the US and China. Also, Arvinas led the latest follow-ons with a $400m offering followed by TG Therapeutics with a $275m stock sale.

Public Company Edition: Codiak, Kiromic, Aligos and Opthea have fallen below their initial public offering values, while Tarsus and Praxis are trading higher. Also, 5AM, MPM and Cormorant took biotech SPACs public and Evotec led recent non-IPO financings with a €250m private placement.