Immuno-oncology will remain a major force at both FDA’s drugs and biologics centers, but watch for psychiatry and antibiotics to make some noise; rare pediatric diseases will remain prominent as the priority review voucher program heads into the sunset.

Bristol makes its own deal with Celgene ally Dragonfly, while Gilead ends virology partnerships with Durect and Precision BioSciences.

Outsourcing is not just for mundane pharma services anymore. Increasingly, drugmakers are contracting for specialized R&D assistance they expect to provide strategic as well as tactical advantages.

DOTW looks at Astellas’ oncology ambitions plus its recent split with partner Ambit, as well as analysis of Shire’s buyout of Premacure, AbbVie’s out-license of an anti-interleukin-13 antibody to Receptos and the Merck/Luminex collaboration on a companion diagnostic for Alzheimer’s disease.