When the traditional fundraising window closes and clinical, regulatory or commercial success eludes, other routes to raise cash emerge. But these have also become more scarce recently, leaving all-stock consolidations.

Moderna and Life Edit will team up to develop transformative or curative therapies for challenging genetic diseases. Erytech and Pherecydes unveil plan to merge and extend runway into 2024.

French Biotech In Focus: While R&D at French biopharma firms in general reflects worldwide trends for oncology and neurology, rare diseases are coming more to the fore, backed by the country’s world-class academic institutions and US FDA recognition.

Rafael’s lead drug candidate has failed in a Phase III trial for pancreatic cancer and the company has been advised to stop a Phase III study of the product in AML.