Bayer pharma research head Christian Rommel has told Scrip he was excited about the Phase I data on Parkinson's disease prospect bemdaneprocel, which is comprised of dopamine-producing neurons derived from pluripotent stem cells, but also advocated caution at this early stage.

As the usual flurry of deals coincides with the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, AbbVie signed an mRNA pact with Anima and a cancer research tie-up with Immunome.

Oversee returnee-founded Chinese biotech start-ups Nuwacell and Arnatar secure $14m in series A and seed rounds respectively, while four other major deals backed by private equity and venture capital firms raise a combined $116m.

Daily notebook from the virtual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference: business development is top of mind for BMS, Merck, J&J and Pfizer, while Novartis, Moderna and Regeneron talk about next steps. Bayer looks to minimize Xarelto patent expiry, a new chief exec debuts for Alnylam and EY suggests 2022 will be another year of bolt-on deals.