The trajectory of Rocket Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage gene therapy company, has been marked by a series of impressive milestones. At least partial credit for those accomplishments goes to CEO Gaurav Shah, who co-founded the company in 2015 and has combined scientific, business and managerial savvy to progress the company through two regulatory filings this year. Shah recently spoke to In Vivo about the company and his own leadership style.

Public Company Edition: Direct Biologics, YishengBio and Estrella Biopharma will go public by merging with special purpose acquisition corporations. Also, Vir lands a government contract worth up to $1bn, Idorsia raises CHF164m ($167.4m) in a real estate deal and Adamis reviews alternatives.

Rocket's all-stock acquisition of Renovacor is valued at about $53m and adds a preclinical portfolio targeting genetically driven cardiovascular disease.

Amylyx is funding research at the Sunnybrook Research Institute to investigate Bax and Bak inhibition in neurodegenerative disease. Repertoire looks into HPV+ cancer with Memorial Sloan Kettering.