Deal snapshot: Akari, which has stayed afloat through small financings in recent years, and Peak Bio, after going public via the SPAC route in 2022, will merge as equals and then prioritize their pipeline.

Private Company Edition: June’s eight $100m-plus venture capital rounds already outpace the seven each raised in March, April and May, including €255m ($274.2m) for ITM and $200m for Upstream, but while there were five $25m or less VC financings during the past week, mid-sized deals were lacking.

MD Anderson and the US National Cancer Institute lead the way with a series of recent alliances, highlighted in this special edition of Tech Transfer Roundup focused on oncology.

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.