Poxel’s shift to new therapeutic areas may be necessary despite Japan’s approval for its diabetes drug. Twymeeg looks set to be hamstrung by placebo-controlled studies without outcomes data.

Poxel’s potential first-in-class diabetes therapy, imeglimin, could be approved in Japan this year, and a new partner is being sought for the EU and US – events that would transform the outlook for the decade-old Merck Serono spin-out.