Public Company Edition: Blade will merge with a special purpose acquisition corporation to go public, Bluebird spins out 2seventy with $442m in cash and Compass raises $125m in a move to the Nasdaq. 

EyeGene R&D head talks to Scrip at CPhI Korea about the development of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate EG-COVID, potential challenges in clinical trials and positioning and the over-riding importance of validating a viable mRNA platform.

Among other Asia deals, Takeda adds to pair of recent gene therapy tie-ups with a CNS-focused cell therapy partnership with Immusoft; earlier it licensed ex-US rights to JCR’s Hunter syndrome drug.

Apnimed is going to conduct one more Phase II study in sleep apnea, mainly to assess subjective endpoint questionnaires, and then hopes to launch a Phase III program by autumn of 2022.