Health technology assessment body NICE wants Kite to collect more evidence to prove that Tecartus can cure relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma. But in the meantime, it says the CAR-T therapy should be made available on the National Health Service, making UK patients among the first in the world to be offered access to the treatment.

The number of new drugs containing new active substances approved in the EU rose significantly in 2020, underpinned by a strong showing for orphan-designated products and a string of novel medicines for cancer and infectious diseases. Notable among the new clutch of approvals was the first ever COVID-19 vaccine, Pfizer/BioNTech's Comirnaty.

Private Company Edition: The pre-J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference financing news deluge during the first week of 2021 included several significant venture capital deals, including a $226m series B round for Affinivax, Ikena’s $120m series B round and an $88m series A round for Aro.

Pfizer, Sanofi, Bristol Myers Squibb, Gilead’s Kite, Lilly’s Dermira, Janssen and Biogen among the major companies announcing transactions this week.