Merck KGaA and Artios penned a global three-year strategic research collaboration to discover and develop multiple precision oncology drugs. The deal could be worth close to $7bn for four-year-old Artios. AstraZeneca announced a definitive agreement to acquire public rare disease drug developer Alexion for approximately $39bn. This was 2020’s largest M&A. Financing reached $28bn in biopharma, $879m in device, and $2.4bn in diagnostics.

Coming year could feature first-time approvals in the EU for at least five gene therapies.

Biogen and Sage Therapeutics penned a potential $3.1bn global collaboration for Sage’s zuranolone (SAGE-217) for major depressive disorder, postpartum depression and other psychiatric disorders, and SAGE-324 for essential tremor and other neurological disorders. In the month’s top M&A, Merck agreed to acquire privately held VelosBio for $2.75bn in cash. VelosBio is developing first-in-class cancer therapies targeting receptor tyrosine kinase-like orphan receptor 1. Financing reached $12.8bn in biopharma, $2.9bn in device, and $2bn in diagnostics.