Biopharma executives say capital access remains the binding constraint even as confidence improves for partnering and deal activity. A new BIO-Europe Biopharma C-Suite Agenda Survey finds three-quarters of leaders expect partnering and M&A appetite to rise over the next 12 months, but that optimism is focused more on financing and strategic collaborations than on acquisitions. In parallel, a deals report highlights continued downstream portfolio consolidation in non-opioid pain. Viatris announced it will acquire Pacira in a roughly $1.65 billion transaction, bringing Exparel and Zilretta under its umbrella, underscoring how near-term revenue assets continue to attract funding when early-stage risk is harder to finance. Separately, Caribou Biosciences disclosed a strategic review tied to the allogeneic CAR-T financing environment and said it would evaluate strategic alternatives while halting its clinical-phase allogeneic CAR-T programs—an update that illustrates the cost-of-capital pressure on advanced cell therapy development.