Private Company Edition: Venture capital mega-rounds of $100m or more held steady in April after a slow January and February then a surge in March, but VC fundraising is down overall this year. In recent raises, Enveda series B expanded to $119m, Vedanta brought in $106.5m and Convergent raised $90m.

BioMed X teams with J&J on inflammation, drug delivery research. Stem cell firm Calidi inks licensing deals with U. of Chicago, City of Hope and Northwestern. MD Anderson teams with Blueprint and Hummingbird.

The intellectual property, also held by Eureka, may offer a new pathway for treating relapsed MM patients. Sorrento inks cancer partnerships with Karolinska Institutet and Mayo Clinic.

Pascal and Oblato separately license therapeutic candidates for glioblastoma multiforme, while Cabaletta emerges from UPenn with novel program for CAAR-T therapies in B-cell mediated autoimmune disease.