The French drugmaker has begun an external and internal search to succeed John Reed who is heading for Johnson & Johnson after an up-and-down five years as Sanofi’s R&D chief.

Private Company Edition: The amount of venture capital investment in biopharma companies has shrunk from quarter to quarter, but the average deal size remained high until the third quarter. Larger rounds from Treeline, Odyssey and Neumora offset a plethora of smaller VC financings early in Q4. 

The failed muscle-adding antibody could offer a superior profile in obesity by reducing body fat composition while increasing lean mass, the firm believes.

Private Company Edition: Clover’s $230m financing was the largest of recent mega-rounds. Century Therapeutics ($160m), Vividion ($135m) and eGenesis ($125m) also raised big rounds and investors Foresite Capital ($969m), Sofinnova Partners ($540m) and OMX Ventures ($150m) raised new VC funds.