In what the company called part of a "multistep commercialization strategy" for DX-88, Dyax Corp. licensed North American and European rights to the intravenous formulation of the compound for use in preventing blood loss during surgery to Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. in a potential $231.5 million deal. (BioWorld Today)

Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Inc. might not have been looking to be acquired, but GlaxoSmithKline plc came knocking with an offer too good to refuse, with a buyout bid of $22.50 per share, marking a total value of about $720 million. (BioWorld Today)

Gearing up to move its first two drug candidates into the clinic this year, Resolvyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. padded its bank account with a $25 million Series B round from new and existing investors. (BioWorld Today)

Less than eight months after being formed as a joint venture between Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. to develop microRNA-targeted drugs, Regulus Therapeutics LLC landed its first major pharma collaboration, signing London-based GlaxoSmithKline plc in a potential $600 million inflammatory disease alliance. (BioWorld Today)

Less than five years after its founding, privately held Piramed Ltd. agreed to be acquired by Roche Holdings Ltd. for $160 million up front in one of the few recent deals to stand out in the slumping UK biotech sector. (BioWorld Today)