Special purpose acquisition companies can bring biopharma firms to market faster than a traditional initial public offering, but frequent failures and increased scrutiny from the US Securities and Exchange Commission mean their heyday in the life sciences space is arguably over.

Public Company Edition: The last biopharma IPO in the US was on 17 February and none have been scheduled, so far, for March. Also, another SPAC merger is called off, Travere sells $275m worth of notes and Xeris secures $150m in new debt, while Ovid, Passage Bio and others are cutting jobs. 

Public Company Edition: It has been almost a month since a biopharma firm launched an IPO in the US, but special purpose acquisition corporations continue to take drug makers public, including Alvotech and Aerami. Outside the US, MaaT closed an IPO in Paris and BeiGene priced a Shanghai offering.

Private Company Edition: The industry raised $28bn in venture capital through the third quarter, breaking the record $27.4bn raised last year. Also, big pharmas backed a start-up lab in Israel, plus mega-rounds for CinCor Pharma ($143m) and Rectify Pharmaceuticals ($100m), while Cerecin raises $40m.