A $60.8m financing round gives F2G the resources to develop what it hopes will be the first new antifungal in a new class in two decades.

INFOGRAPHIC: In 2019, 10 blockbuster medicines booked combined sales of $92.5bn. This infographic examines those drugs that commanded the greatest revenues globally, and answers some key questions. Which therapeutic areas include the most lucrative blockbusters? Which companies enjoyed their spoils? And which drugs were new to the top 10 last year? It also takes a look at the position of these products on the all-important US market. 

Bayer is paying $425m upfront to acquire KaNDy Therapeutics, whose CEO tells Scrip that the German group was always the preferred partner due to its long-standing commitment to women’s health.

Created when BetterLife bought Altum at end-July, the merged entity will now focus on advancing the acquired group’s lead asset, an inhaled form of its patented interferon a2b product, as an early treatment for COVID-19.

Takeda has linked up with COVID-19 vaccine frontrunner Novavax, while Daiichi Sankyo has been selected by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare as an official participant under the first round of a national government initiative to build production capacity.

Roche’s etrolizumab missed primary endpoints in its Phase III study program evaluating it as maintenance therapy in moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis, a new therapeutic area for the firm.

Deal Snapshot: The China/US CAR-T firm will be bought out by its management team and institutional investors in a deal structured as a merger into a new company.

Private Company Edition: The Alliance for Regenerative Medicine’s half-year report shows the sector raised $10.7bn in the first half of 2020 versus $9.8bn raised in all of 2019. Also, DCVC Bio closed a $350m fund, new incubator opportunities and VC mega-deals for Dyne and Atomwise.

The head of the German group's pharma BD team tells Scrip that Bayer has created a system which allows it to move quickly when sealing partnerships, as seen with the KaNDy buy on 11 August.

Pricing set somewhere down the middle as Moderna reaches deal with US government on initial supplies of its mRNA coronavirus vaccine.

Headquartered in both China and US, the new firm will help partners bring drugs to China and other Asian markets. Novavax licenses COVID-19 vaccine in Japan to Takeda, following previous week’s deal for the vaccine in India.

Deal Snapshot: In acquiring its fellow San Diego firm for an estimated deal value of up to $516m, Ligand picks up protein-expression technology, revenue-driving partnerships and the potential for more.

Bayer is paying $425m upfront to acquire KaNDy Therapeutics, whose CEO tells Scrip that the German group was always the preferred partner due to its long-standing commitment to women’s health.

Turnover at the German group's pharma unit has been hit harder than forecast by the coronavirus pandemic and hefty price cuts linked to China's drug procurement policy but Bayer remains upbeat.

Sun’s Q1 earnings were dented by provisions related to the generic pricing investigation settlement with the US Department of Justice of arm Taro, and the impact of pandemic-related lockdowns. Some clinic-administered products bore the brunt of lock-downs in parts of the US, though market share was unaffected.

Novartis India chief outlines how the company is navigating the challenging business environment amid the coronavirus pandemic, including for its for-profit social business. Digital solutions are a key part of these efforts and the executive offers advice for those struggling to balance the work-life mix in these testing times.

Alembic and Biocon kick off the Q1 earnings season in India with significant growth in the active pharmaceutical ingredients business and expect to see continued momentum in the area. More Indian firms could gain as customers realign strategies and move away from single sources to de-risk their supply chain, learning from pandemic-related disruptions.

While the traditional players such as Pfizer and GSK, as well as newcomer AstraZeneca, are hot in pursuit of a COVID-19 vaccine, the Swiss major is sticking to drugs, the area where "we do have deep expertise," CEO Vas Narasimhan told journalists.

Amid rising cancer incidence in the Asia Pacific region, Roche tells Scrip in this exclusive interview that it is going "beyond the pill" to widen access to drugs in the increasingly important oncology market.

After a long-standing row with payer NHS England, the rapid market access deal will help Vertex move into growth phase.

G1 Therapeutics had been talking about marketing its recently filed myelosuppression therapy for small cell lung cancer on its own. However a deal with Boehringer represents an alternative "capital efficient launch structure."

Licensed from PharmaMar for the US market at the start of the year, Jazz Pharmaceuticals is hoping its new small-cell lung cancer therapy, Zepzelca (lurbinectedin), may have potential for other cancer types and in different combinations.

Fundraising in the life sciences sector has been booming even as firms in many other industries are struggling to stay in business. Goodwin’s David Mardle is upbeat about the sector’s ongoing prospects – although M&A deals are currently proving tricky to complete.

Novartis will not start to compete in the increasingly crowded US multiple sclerosis marketplace with ofatumumab this month, as regulators extend the review process for the B-cell depleting therapy until September.