Corza Health Inc. has agreed to pay Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. €350 million (US$409.8 million) in cash to acquire the Japanese drugmaker’s Tachosil fibrin sealant patch. The deal, which is expected to close by March 31, 2021, pending regulatory approvals, gives Corza Health a solid footing in the advanced wound care and closure market.

Early stage investment strategies and dealmaking in the age of COVID-19 became topics during the Biopharm America meeting, itself held virtually this year because of the pandemic. Kevin Johnson, partner and co-founder of European life sciences backer Medicxi, hailed an “unprecedented upswing” on the financial front. “There is no winter,” he said. “It’s amazing.”

Following days of speculation, Illumina Inc. said today it will acquire liquid biopsy startup Grail Inc. for $8 billion in cash and stock, bringing back into the fold a company it spun out in 2016. The deal gives Illumina a major stake in the race the race to develop a less-invasive way to diagnose cancer. Since spinning out, Grail has raised nearly $2 billion from big-name investors with promises of a blood test for early cancer detection and is hoping to introduce its liquid biopsy as a laboratory-developed test (LTD) as early as next year.

DUBLIN – Roche Holding AG is taking a second shot on the NLRP3 inflammasome by acquiring Dublin-based Inflazome Ltd. for €380 million (US$447.8 million) up front plus undisclosed milestones linked to the progress of its two clinical-stage candidates inzomelid and somalix. In terms of cash on the table, the deal is the largest yet for a portfolio of drug candidates that acts on the NLRP3 inflammasome, and it represents a profitable exit for Inflazome’s investors, who put €55 million into the company over two funding rounds, in 2016 and in 2018.

Just weeks after rejecting Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.'s overtures, Qiagen NV completed its own deal – the acquisition of the final 80.1% of diagnostics instruments company Neumodx Molecular Inc. for $248 million in cash. Qiagen, based in Hilden, Germany, bought a 19.9% stake in Neumodx back in 2018 with the option to purchase the rest for $234 million. With U.S. regulatory approval recently obtained, the deal closed with an additional $14 million in customary adjustments for cash, indebtedness, and transaction costs.

While its mRNA COVID-19 vaccination effort gets the most attention these days, Moderna Inc. is also moving in other directions as the company will lead mRNA discovery programs drawn from its early stage pipeline in new collaborations with Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Italy’s Chiesi Farmaceutici SpA. These two deals highlight the “huge opportunity for mRNA beyond SARS-CoV-2 and vaccines,” Piper Sandler analysts wrote Sept. 16.

Sinusitis implant company Intersect ENT Inc. has agreed to acquire Fiagon AB Medical Technologies, a manufacturer of electromagnetic surgical navigation systems, for €60 million (US$71.1 million). Under the terms of the agreement, Intersect ENT will pay €15 million at the time of the closing and €15 million annually for the ensuing three years.