Millions of people lack access to quality healthcare services and products in China, but now one company has raised millions in funding and vows to harness the power of the internet to get temperature-controlled drugs and quality diagnostic services to everyone who needs them.

Nippon Shinyaku obtains rights to sell Dravet and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome drug Fintepla in its home market. Sun Pharma increases its ownership stake in Russia’s PJSC Biosintez.

Biohaven has acquired a priority review voucher from GW Pharma to accelerate the US review of rimegepant, its oral CGRP receptor antagonist for migraine. The firm is competing with Allergan and Lilly in a race to get the next oral treatment approved.

Merck KGaA's healthcare business in China will continue to center around its fertility, general medicines and endocrinology therapies while also building on new corporate alliances there, the German conglomerate’s global operations head told Scrip. 

I.V. Zulresso is the first US FDA-approved drug for postpartum depression (PPD) and Sage's first commercial product – with a list price of $34,000. It will help the company build a presence in PPD as it completes late-stage development for oral candidate SAGE-217.

Abbott’s new digital initiative in India, which already has 2,000 physicians and 1,000 patients on board, aims to provide services and information to improve health outcomes. Gamification concepts and an offline component such as a learning program for physicians are also part of the new offering.

Forxiga is the first oral medicine approved in the EU as an adjunct to insulin for type 1 diabetes and the regulatory boost for AstraZeneca comes as Sanofi gets a CRL from the FDA for Zynquista.

Public Company Edition: Biotech stocks sank when US FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb announced his departure, but have nearly recovered to pre-resignation levels, except for newly public firms. Also, Biohaven's raises cash for PRV purchase and Endo issues $1.5bn in new debt.

China's national reimbursement drug list will undergo a much anticipated expansion in 2019, and therapies for cancer, pediatric and rare conditions from international firms including Roche and Actellion are likely to receive long-awaited coverage.

With data showing a lung function and sweat chloride benefit for its proprietary CFTR-modulating triplet, Proteostasis says it’s moving ahead. But analysts and investors are concerned the effects are less than seen with Vertex drugs.

Badhri Srinivasan, head of global development operations at Novartis, outlines in an interview with Scrip the company’s efforts towards making clinical trials more efficient and decentralized, and how the Nerve Live data analytics platform is helping minimize non-performing sites.

Pipeline Watch is a weekly snapshot of selected late-stage clinical trial events announced by pharmaceutical and biotech companies at medical and industry conferences, in financial and company presentations, and in company releases and statements.