First clinical data from Synthekine’s IL-2 candidate and that ofrivalsMedicennawere presented at the AACR, suggesting there’s life in the modality yet.

Private Company Financings: Year-end data from Pitchbook/NVCA, like recent Evaluate numbers, show venture fundraising slid from the third to fourth quarters. However, Taiho increased its VC fund by $100m, Ji Xing closed a $162m series D round and MAPS raised more than $100m.

The Ireland-headquartered firm will advance the candidate into US and EU narcolepsy studies as part of its pipeline diversification project as portfolio products are set to lose their patent exclusivity.

AstraZeneca licenses bispecific cancer antibody candidate from Harbour Biomed. Regeneron seeks new approach to gene therapy delivery in deal with ViGeneron.