Building its immuno-oncology pipeline, Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) has agreed to acquire start-up biotech, IFM Therapeutics, in a deal worth up to US$2.3 B. BMS will gain full rights to IFM’s preclinical STING and NLRP3 agonist programmes which are being developed to enhance the innate immune response to treat cancer. Many immunotherapy treatments focus on adaptive immunity but by targeting innate immunity pathways, a differentiated approach, may go some way to help BMS re-establish itself against its rivals in the immune-oncology market.