By Maxx Chatsko An emerging therapeutic area continues to draw interest from large drugmakers. The first half of 2022 hasn’t been kind to biotech stocks, but the pain has been especially acute for the smallest drug developers with the earliest-stage pipelines. Although corrected valuations have led many to suggest increased levels of mergers and acquisitions are ahead, that hasn’t happened yet. That means small-cap biotech stocks need to rely on the next-best thing for a financial lifeline: collaborations. There’s been no shortage of deals for investors to pore over. On the first day of June, …