Global financings for cell and gene therapy and tissue engineering companies more than doubled in the second quarter; financings for the sector rose 79% in the first half of 2018. Also, Samumed leads recent venture funding deals with a $438m round.

Perrigo previously saw value in keeping its prescription pharmaceuticals in-house, but now says it will sell off or spin out the topical generics to focus on its over-the-counter brands. Questions remain about whether the company's generics portfolio is valuable enough to stand alone or attract a buyer.

Ascletis was the first with a new listing under new Hong Kong rules, but BeiGene also sold shares on the HKEX; the companies raised more than $1bn combined. Also, TherapeuticsMD sold stock in the US to commercialize Imvexxy, Curon raised the latest $150m VC mega-round, and NewLink cut jobs in R&D refocus.

Public Company Edition: Nine more biopharma companies launched IPOs in the US in July, bringing the 2018 total to 45 first-time offerings – three more than in all of 2017. Bluebird's $632.5m offering leads recent follow-on public offerings.

Private Company Edition: Gossamer, Ascentage and Alector continued the trend of large venture capital rounds, recently raising $230m, $150m and $133m, respectively. Led by former Receptos executives, Gossamer has multiple clinical trials planned, but continues to keep details of its drug candidates under wraps.

Second quarter Otezla sales came in slightly lower than consensus, but Celgene believes changes in inventory levels will smooth out for the remainder of 2018. However, the company is reconsidering its pursuit of IBD indications for Otezla in deference to its potential blockbuster ozanimod.