Biotechnology Last week’s news included second quarter financial results from BioNTech, the German mRNA biotech behind the successful covid vaccine Comirnaty, along with an update on its R&D pipeline. On the deal-making front, US biotech Equillium announced progress for its graft-versus-host disease drug itolizumab that is partnered with Japan’s Ono Pharmaceutical. Also, US gene editing firm Sangamo signed a licensing deal with Roche subsidiary Genentech that could earn it more than $2 billion. M&A news saw US firm Recursion enter a merger agreement with the UK’s Exscientia. Eli Lilly reported second quarter financial that beat expectations, driven by the performances of its new diabetes and obesity drugs. 11 August 2024