Biogen has warned that uptake for its newly approved Alzheimer’s therapy will be slow in the beginning and doctors confirm it will take time to figure which patients can and should be treated.

Public Company Edition: The pace of US initial public offerings slowed a bit in April and May but could ramp back up in June as biopharma investor sentiment rebounds. Also, drug developers continue to go public via SPAC mergers, most recently Valo Health with a $2.8bn post-deal valuation.

Experts say there should be enough Alzheimer’s patients willing to enroll in Biogen/Eisai’s US FDA-required Phase IV trial and other companies’ late-stage studies even with Aduhelm broadly available. 

Remaining questions after ASCO include whether Lumakras (sotorasib) might work in first-line NSCLC with certain co-mutations and if ocular toxicities will hamper bemarituzumab in gastric cancer.

Biogen/Eisai’s aducanumab, as the first disease-modifying therapy and setting a precedent for accelerated approval, lifted the entire Alzheimer’s field.

Private Company Edition: venBio’s new fund plus Ysios Capital’s recent €216m ($260m) fund adds up to $810m in fresh venture capital for life science companies. Also, Nikang and Esco attracted $200m each in VC investment, Pulmocide closed a $92m series C round and Stablix launched with $63m.