Private equity dollars are flowing toward clinical trial sites as industry conditions demand larger site networks, PitchBook’s analysis of first quarter 2024 deal activity shows.

Thanks to a flurry of dealmaking across the Christmas period and into the new year, it sure feels like both biotechs and Big Pharma have picked up the pace when it comes to hunting down fresh assets. After crunching the data, PwC has come to the same conclusion.

Day One Biopharmaceuticals is offering MabCare Therapeutics up to $1.2 billion for exclusive licensing rights to an antibody drug conjugate (ADC) taking aim at solid tumors in both adults and kids.

Boston Scientific is en route to expand its vascular offerings with a $1.26 billion deal to acquire Silk Road Medical and its approach to reducing the risk of stroke via carotid artery procedures.

Sanofi is offering Belharra Therapeutics up to $700 million in biobucks for a tow out to surf the waves of small molecule drug discovery in immunology.

Roche has added to its flotilla of RNA alliances, handing Ascidian Therapeutics $42 million upfront to use an alternative to gene editing to treat neurological diseases. The agreement includes up to $1.8 billion in milestones.

Seven months after Syncona threw a financial lifeline to struggling Freeline Therapeutics, the London-based investment firm is giving the biotech another present in the form of fellow gene therapy company SwanBio.

The FDA has slammed the brakes on a trial of MediLink Therapeutics’ BioNTech-partnered antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) that has already seen three fatalities, with the agency citing a risk of “unreasonable and significant risk of illness or injuries.”

The “remarkable” success of chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (CAR-T) in lupus has led to a gold rush as cell therapy companies shift their focus from oncology to immunology. But a new relapse in a clinical trial may dim the strategy’s glow, at least in the eyes of investors.

Takeda’s late-phase epilepsy program has failed a key test, chalking up misses on the primary endpoints in pivotal trials in two indications. But the Japanese drugmaker still plans to talk to regulators about the next steps for the Ovid Therapeutics-partnered prospect based on the “totality of the data.”