Atara Biotherapeutics Inc. licensed a pair of mesothelin-directed CAR T treatments, ATA-2271 and ATA-3271, to Bayer AG for $60 million up front with the potential for $610 million in development, regulatory and commercialization milestone payments. Atara is also eligible for tiered royalties that peak in the low double-digit percentage of net sales of the two drugs. South San Francisco-based Atara will provide translational and clinical manufacturing services for the two drugs that will be reimbursed by Bayer.

Harvard University’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering licensed its Erapid electrochemical sensing platform to IQ Group Global to integrate with the Australian consortium’s transistor technology in a SARS-CoV-2 test. The combined solution could greatly simplify serological testing for the virus and help monitor immunity in individuals and populations over time.

Olympus Corp. has unveiled its plans to acquire Veran Medical Technologies Inc. for up to $340 million. The buy will go through Olympus Corp. of the Americas (OCA) and is part of the company’s corporate strategy revealed in November 2019. It marks the second M&A-related announcement in about a month.

Livanova plc has inked an agreement with Gyrus Capital SA to divest its heart valve business. The sale has an enterprise value of €60 million (US$73 million) and is expected to wrap up in the first half of next year. The Livanova board has already given its unanimous assent for the deal. Livanova now expects to strengthen its focus on its neuromodulation and cardiovascular platforms.

LONDON – DNA damage repair (DDR) specialist Artios Pharma Ltd. has sealed a $860 million per target deal with Merck KGaA, around a series of small-molecule DNA nuclease inhibitors. The deal, for up to eight targets, will see Artios get $30 million in up-front and near-term milestones to take programs to the point at which Merck will decide on its option to take them in-house. For any products that make it to market, the $860 million in milestones along the way will be followed by double-digit royalties on sales. Subject to certain conditions, Cambridge-based Artios has rights to do joint development with Darmstadt, Germany-based Merck.

PERTH, Australia – Melbourne-based Telix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. is acquiring Scintec Diagnostics GmbH subsidiary Therapharm GmbH in a deal worth AU$33 million (US$24.24 million) plus royalties. Zug, Switzerland-based Therapharm has developed a portfolio of radiolabeled diagnostic and therapeutic products, and the deal brings Telix a new targeting asset in hematology, Telix CEO Chris Behrenbruch told analysts during a Dec. 1 conference call.

If there are three takeaways from this year’s dealmaking efforts, they appear to be record-setting partnerships, lackluster M&As, and massive amounts of research funding via the U.S. government.

The whopper deal between Biogen Inc. and Sage Therapeutics Inc. – a global collaboration and licensing deal involving the latter’s zuranolone (also known as SAGE-217) for major depressive disorder (MDD), postpartum depression (PPD) and other psychiatric disorders, as well as SAGE-324 for essential tremor (ET) and neurological disorders – drew mixed reviews from Wall Street. And, for Biogen investors, the would-be Alzheimer’s disease (AD) therapy aducanumab remains front of mind.