Derived from Strategic Transactions, Informa's premium source for tracking life-sciences deals, the bimonthly Pacts In Medtech feature highlights notable technology alliances, R&D partnerships and commercial collaborations. This edition covers industry pacts that were signed in May and June 2019.

Plus news on recent financial activity by Stem Cells Inc., Sanofi, Avalon Ventures and Aerpio Therapeutics.

Highlights from the Q4 2008 review of pharmaceutical and biotechnology dealmaking: Financing dollar volume was only one-fourth that of Q3 with 57 deals bringing in over $1.09 billion, with no IPOs or FOPOs, but early-stage VC rounds accounting for 41% of this total. M&A dollars also were down: $7.6 billion in Q4--versus the $25.2 billion of the previous quarter--and contributing just 15% to the category's 2008 annual total. Alliances saw the most activity, boasting ten deals with pre-commercialization values greater than $100 million. Five of those were over $275 million, including Bristol-Myers Squibb Inc.'s $850 million tie up with Exelixis Inc., not only the fourth quarter's highest, but the second-largest alliance of the year.

All the biotech stock indices are down; record numbers of companies are selling at lower-than-cash valuations. Investors want Pharma to step up and buy, removing inventory from the market, and spreading limited investment dollars over a smaller set of opportunities. While buyers say they aren't going to radically change their strategies simply to take advantage of cheap prices, it's clear that more deals will get signed - mostly because more sellers will accept terms they once would have rejected. . In short, a hotter dealmaking climate will keep biotech healthy enough to survive as an industry, albeit a smaller one, and, perhaps, with a slightly lower ceiling on returns.