EUSA Pharma announced the launch of operations March 23 with a group of products acquired from Jazz Pharmaceuticals and funding from equity investor Essex Woodlands; it is the third specialty pharma company set up by U.K. entrepreneur Bryan Morton.

Jazz strays away from its CNS focus with a $700 million acquisition of EUSA Pharma, adding the specialty pharma’s oncology product to its portfolio.

Highlights from the Q1 2008 review of pharmaceutical and biotechnology dealmaking: there was a drought in biopharma financings--particularly from the public markets with only two completed IPOs--but VC funding was strong and made up 40% of the total. M&A activity was also down and saw only one multi-billion dollar deal. In alliances, oligonucleotides were the subject of seven biopharmaceutical collaborations and accounted for most of the quarter's dealmaking money.

Start-Up analyzes fundraising and alliances among start-ups in the biopharmaceutical, medical device and in vitro diagnostics segments from January through March 2008. Data comes from Windhover’s Strategic Transactions Database.