Lotus Pharmaceuticals aims to build a stronghold in Thailand and beyond, after the Alvogen subsidiary announced a partnership with a subsidiary of Thai state-owned conglomerate PTT, which includes a $50m capital injection.

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. 

Japan’s Towa saw 4.6% growth in domestic sales in the first nine months of FY21, on the back of new launches, as the coronavirus pandemic had only a “minor” effect on its business. But while the firm’s launch schedule for new products remains unaffected so far, the company pointed out that there may be slight delays in product development plans going ahead.

Around 100 executives highlight the hot areas to watch on the R&D front in 2021. From cancer to CNS and from regenerative medicine to real world data, expectations are high on many fronts.