Building on research by Dana-Farber professor Wayne Marasco, the partners are backing a bispecific approach to CAR-Ts in solid tumors. Seelos licenses a Parkinson’s gene therapy candidate from Duke.

While Mustang was acquiring CAR-T intellectual property from Harvard and Juno licensed gamma-secretase inhibitor IP from OncoTracker and Fred Hutchinson for use with its CAR-Ts, Ocugen and Tamid licensed gene therapy research for ophthalmic uses.

Do high biotech share prices portend stock-heavy deal-making in lieu of all-cash transactions? Also, Biogen shares the risk with Eisai in an Alzheimer’s deal, while newly public Genocea and cell therapy specialist NeoStem both teamed with Harvard researchers.

Unmet medical need and market size continue to drive venture investors to ophthalmic drug plays focused on diseases that blind. This interest is fueled by a stable pool of acquirers and the ability to in-license innovative, clinically validated compounds, providing VCs with a jump start to a potential exit.