As the usual flurry of deals coincides with the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, AbbVie signed an mRNA pact with Anima and a cancer research tie-up with Immunome.

Five $1bn+ alliances were penned in November. Topping the list was a potential $4.5bn deal between Arcturus Therapeutics and CSL Seqirus.

With only weeks to go in 2022, the three major pharmas each had inked between 16 and 20 deals. Meanwhile, Pfizer has been less busy with 12 deals, but those include M&A totaling $18.2bn.

Syngene’s COO, Mahesh Bhalgat, said the firm is better placed than some peers to serve clients for biologics-based advanced therapies and address the cost element for new modalities like mRNA. He also outlines the research, development and manufacturing services company's capabilities in oligonucleotide-based therapeutics, an area that's seeing growing interest.