Public Company Edition: The former Allergan CEO is taking a special purpose acquisition corporation public to generate $460m for deals in familiar biopharma niches. Also, IPOs are expected to keep up a robust pace in the fall and Albireo raises $160m on the success of its drug for pediatric liver diseases.

New York biotech is partnering with researchers at Columbia, Kansas State and Southern Research to address the pandemic.

Codagenix, a company backed by Novartis, Merck and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has tied up with India’s Serum Institute to develop a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, joining a heated race against the dreaded COVID-19 outbreak.

Blueprint and Zymeworks raise $300m-plus in follow-on offerings. Also, Arcutis, Black Diamond and Annovis bring the 2020 US IPO count to four; Spring Bank, Surface Oncology and Decibel reveal strategic shifts; and Harmony’s $200m in venture debt leads recent VC deals.