Oncology deal trends see pharmas going to the well early and often 

As pharmas tap biotechs for their oncology assets, they are finding competition not only from their pharma peers, but also from the smaller companies themselves, which now represent more than half the licensees. The result is that pharmas are signing up for therapies and technologies long before proof of concept, and are willing to pay top of the range at all stages of development.

A BioCentury analysis of 138 partnering and 35 M&A deals in oncology from January 2017 to September 2020 finds a strong trend toward dealmaking for discovery, preclinical or Phase I assets, which represent two-thirds of partnering deals and one-third of M&A...