Emerging Company Profile: The start-up's Phase I and II studies look promising for stem cell therapy in treating aging frailty, a common condition that overlaps with Alzheimer's disease.

Flush with IPO funding, AI-focused healthcare technology group Sensyne Health will now ready additional products and find three more NHS trust partnerships. CEO Lord Drayson spoke to Scrip.

Vernalis' decision to switch strategy and enter the US cough-cold market backfired spectacularly and acquirer Ligand is getting hold of what once was a jewel in the UK biotech crown for next to nothing.

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.

With strong quarterly sales of Mavenclad in Europe, and a recent re-filing of the drug with the FDA, Merck KGaA continues to play the waiting game for top-line growth to return as it banks on the new addition to its MS franchise.

Long-term top-line market forecasts for Novo Nordisk are heavily reliant on its GLP-1 portfolio's potential - so pricing uncertainties, especially in the US,  can unnerve sentiment, as seen when it reported Q2 results.

Emergent gets vaccines for cholera and typhoid fever in PaxVax buyout. By taking over the OvaScience shell to go public, Millendo expects to take lead candidate livelotide into a pivotal study early next year.

Compass raises $132m in Series A as it moves from screening to the clinic, and start-up HotSpot Therapeutics comes out of stealth mode with a $45m Series A financing co-led by Atlas Venture and Sofinnova Partners.

Respiratory viral infections are a frequent cause of COPD exacerbations and the German major is joining forces with the Austrian biotech and Evotec to find new antivirals to tackle the disease.

Glenmark has drawn private equity interest for its carved out domestic orthopedic and pain management business as it seeks to fuel growth in these segments and pare debt via the proceeds. A similar strategy may be deployed for the firm's active pharmaceutical ingredients unit.

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.

As others shun anti-infectives, Evotec is consolidating its position. Through an alliance with Sanofi it is evaluating new anti-infectives in three areas, and expects soon to advance its first candidate therapeutic into the clinic.

Having recently got hold of GlaxoSmithKline's gene therapy assets, Orchard has completed another whopping financing which has got observers thinking that an IPO could soon be in the offing.

An under pressure US business dented Lupin in Q1, with a recovery seen only in the second half of FY19 as new generic products roll out. A ramp-up in on-market products like Solosec in the US and a smooth run to launch for biosimilar Enbrel in Japan and the EU, among other products, could be vital to restore momentum for the Indian firm.

Vernalis' decision to switch strategy and enter the US cough-cold market backfired spectacularly and acquirer Ligand is getting hold of what once was a jewel in the UK biotech crown for next to nothing.

As others shun anti-infectives, Evotec is consolidating its position. Through an alliance with Sanofi it is evaluating new anti-infectives in three areas, and expects soon to advance its first candidate therapeutic into the clinic.

The London-headquartered firm believes that its efficient control of costs and strong data in support of its investigational treatments for rare respiratory, bone and endocrine diseases will attract investors across the Atlantic once it decides to refile for a listing on the Nasdaq.

Ian Read walked away from a meeting with President Trump with a rosy view on drug pricing and rebate reform. He said he expects rebates will be eliminated, but net drug prices will continue to grow. Rebate reform will benefit new drug launches, he predicted.

Positive recommendations for the approval of CAR-T therapies Yescarta and Kymriah were delivered in Europe in June. Michael Elliott, Gilead Sciences' VP for medical affairs in Europe, spoke to Scrip about the Yescarta launch strategy and the long-term future of CAR-T.

With new branded immunotherapy-based double- or triple-drug combinations on the way, there is greater scrutiny of costs and efficiency.

Sales of the uterine fibroid therapy, Esmya, sharply declined during the first half of 2018 at Hungary's specialty pharmaceuticals company, but an EU review of a potential association between the drug and liver injury has now been completed.

Otsuka's guadecitabine has missed co-primary endpoints in older treatment-naïve AML patients but it continues to be evaluated in relapsed and refractory patients, in a therapeutic area undergoing considerable innovation.

Positive top-line results from the Phase IIb DOVE study of Scynexis's SCY-078, and progress with a new intravenous formulation, suggest the US biotech's new triterpenoid could be the first of a new class of antifungal agents for serious infections.