Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd. has acquired a 73% stake of Antejin Biotech Co. Ltd. in a merger and acquisition deal worth up to ¥4.006 billion (US$626.2 million) to expand its pipeline in the field of bacterial vaccines. To kick off, Shanghai-based Fosun purchased about 32.52% equity interest in Antejin from nine shareholders for about ¥1.108 billion in cash.

Astrazeneca plc has signed an agreement with liquid biopsy testing company Saga Diagnostics AB to develop dPCR assays. Lund, Sweden-based Saga Diagnostics will develop Sagasafe dPCR assays towards undisclosed methylated targets for analysis of tissue samples and liquid biopsies. The assay is part of Saga’s portfolio of “ultrasensitive technologies,” comprising Sagasign for personalized monitoring of cancer burden and minimal residual disease.

LONDON – Just nine months on from announcing the close of its $6.9 million seed round, Dunad Therapeutics Ltd. has landed a potential $1.3 billion deal with Novartis AG to discover and develop orally available protein degradation drugs. The cash is, of course, backend-loaded, but Dunad is getting a handy $24 million up-front payment and equity investment, and will receive full funding for the research.

PARIS – Defymed SAS reported the formation of the Decapes consortium, which brings together the Institute of Chemistry and Processes for Energy, Environment and Health (ICPEES) and the specialist microtechnology and biomaterials service provider for med-tech companies, Statice. This French consortium is working on a minimally invasive version of Defymed's Mailpan device, which will extend the application range for this artificial pancreas to include other chronic pathologies besides type 1 diabetes.

Merck & Co. Inc. has signed a potential $1 billion research tie-up with Synthekine Inc. to develop engineered cytokines to fight autoimmune diseases, as its $11.5 billion merger with Acceleron Pharma Inc. hit a regulatory speed bump.

3D Systems Inc. acquired Volumetric Biotechnologies Inc. as part of its plan to expand its organ bioprinting program. The deal entails a $45 million upfront payment with an additional $355 million linked to meeting milestones “planned between now and 2035, and aligned with key points in the development process,” Volumetric President and CEO Jeffrey Graves told BioWorld. Houston-based Volumetric has focused on building replacement organs through bioprinting and created an approach that produces complex vasculature using light-based bioprinting.

TORONTO – Imaging company Moleculight Inc. has launched a new point-of-care, wound imaging platform intended for multiple U.S. health care settings and has also inked a deal with a U.S. distributor to ensure it gets there.

On target with last year, a total of 87% of funds recorded in 2021 through biopharma collaborations with nonprofit entities by the end of October are focused on COVID-19 pandemic efforts. The pandemic accounts for 54% of the money collected through grants, which is still a sturdy amount but down from 76% in 2020.