Artiva grossed $167m by selling more shares than previously planned, but at a significantly lower price per share than it proposed earlier in the week, to fund its NK cell therapy programs.

Public Company Edition: The IPO market in the US cooled in Q2, but a warm-up may come in Q3 alongside new SPAC merger opportunities; Artiva may be the next biopharma firm to go public. Also, IDEAYA and Recursion grossed $302.4m and $200m, respectively, in follow-on offerings.

The second quarter in South Korea was marked by the return of several assets by licensing partners, including Thea Open Innovation, which gave back rights to two ophthalmic programs in-licensed from OliX. Merck & Co. also cancelled a co-research deal with Artiva Biotherapeutics.

As South Korea's doctors continue their long-running protest against a government plan to raise the medical student quota at universities, the walk-outs may be beginning to take a toll on the pharma industry, with many large firms reporting weak earnings in the last quarter.