Incyte will pay $750m to acquire privately held Escient and its first-in-class oral antagonists of Mas-related G protein-coupled receptors X2 and X4.

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.

Pivotal data on the oral BTK inhibitor could enable Novartis to maintain its hold on the urticaria market.

Looking to treat patients with CSU uncontrolled by Xolair, Celldex’s KIT binder barzolvolimab shows strong disease activity reduction at 12 weeks in Phase II. Sanofi’s BTK inhibitor rilzabrutinib also showed efficacy in CSU.