Deal Snapshot: The French company already holds rights to the allogeneic T-cell therapy in much of the world, but will pay Atara $30m up front to obtain rights in the US, Canada and elsewhere.

Verona Pharma’s Phase III ensifentrine, if approved, would be the first new dual-mechanism treatment class for COPD patients in decades. It could propel the UK-based biotech toward profitability, or into the arms of a larger partner.

Pharma will partner with SyntheX on targeted protein degradation, with Autolus on cell therapy safety. Novo Nordisk gets rights to Ventus’s lead compound in NASH and chronic kidney disease.

When a small biotech company acquires a failed drug from big pharma and plans to repeat the clinical studies expecting a positive result, is that not a definition of insanity?