New York biotech is partnering with researchers at Columbia, Kansas State and Southern Research to address the pandemic.

Private Company Edition: The average exit from biopharma investments rose from $356.8m in 2019 to $520.6m in 2020, explaining the staggering $12bn invested in the industry during the first half of this year versus $17bn for all of last year. In recent VC deals, VelosBio’s $137m series B was the largest. 

Private Company Edition: The allogeneic cell therapy developer founded by former Juno execs launched in January 2019 without disclosing its initial funding. Other recent venture capital mega-rounds include $192m for Orca, $170m for C4, $118m for Shattuck and $102m for GreenLight.

Lantern, Avidity, Generation Bio and Vaxcyte launched initial public offerings during the second week of June as biopharma continues to intrigue IPO investors. Also, Blackstone invested $350m in Reata's bardoxolone and Checkmate’s $85m series C led recent VC deals.