CTMC CEO Jason Bock talked to Scrip about the venture between MD Anderson and National Resilience, which provides manufacturing, process development and regulatory support for small cell therapy developers’ preclinical and clinical proof-of-concept studies. Meanwhile, Verge Genomics initiated a Phase Ib study of its AI-discovered drug for ALS; EyePoint and Aviceda dosed patients in their Phase II DME trials; Parexel teamed up with a non-profit cancer research group in Japan; and BARDA selected PPD to run its Phase II platform trial for ARDS.

An analyst suggested the company might end up selling its technology to a large pharma player, citing AstraZeneca’s $68m buyout of LogicBio in October as a precedent.

BioMed X teams with J&J on inflammation, drug delivery research. Stem cell firm Calidi inks licensing deals with U. of Chicago, City of Hope and Northwestern. MD Anderson teams with Blueprint and Hummingbird.

Additional views from the virtual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on ways the COVID-19 pandemic has affected business practices and lessons learned for the future.