Lilly paid $140m up front for an option to acquire Radionetics for $1bn within an undisclosed timeframe. The private firm is developing small molecule GPCR-targeted radiopharmaceuticals.

The editorial team from Scrip discusses the M&A potential of various emerging biopharmas, such as Viking, Verona, Altimmune, Xenon and Crinetics.

Reporting a second positive Phase III trial for oral paltusotine, Crinetics plans an NDA later this year to position its drug against competing injectable somatostatin analogs.

Public Company Edition: Denali, Crinetics and Ocular Therapeutix grossed $500m, $350m and $325m, respectively, in private placements ahead of data readouts. Also, Viking raised $550m after its positive Phase II obesity data and Abingworth invested $210m in Gilead’s Trodelvy NSCLC trials.