Vertex and CRISPR look beyond beta thalassemia and sickle cell disease. Also, Bicycle gets $50m up front in Novartis deal, Regeneron commits $75m initially under a Treg collaboration with Sonoma, and Jounce gets a better deal from Concentra to wave off Redx merger.

The past year witnessed only one major acquisition of a Chinese biotech by a major pharma company. However, some established firms such as Hansoh have set a new course for collaboration with much smaller peers by in-licensing preclinical assets.

Full-Life’s acquisition of Focus-X came after two other Chinese biotechs leaped into the fray for a leading position in China’s nascent radionuclide therapy market.

Private Company Edition: Biomedtracker found that 53% of financings during the first quarter were venture capital deals versus 32% in Q1 of last year. Also, Qiming closed a $260m fund, Transition Bio raised a $50m series A round, ProfoundBio completed a $70m series A+ and MycoMedica raised $60m.