Both the US and EU are gradually warming up to medical marijuana, but clunky and inadequate regulation threatens to curtail the growth of a burgeoning industry.

With valuations down and borrowing costs up, many industry insiders are expecting Darwinian scenes in biotech this year. Survival of the fittest is the order of the day: companies with riskier, less commercially defined propositions will struggle, while platform companies with multiple shots on strong goals will increasingly find favor in a more risk-averse environment.

Neuraxpharm has made its latest move into a new European market, this time opening up a new unit in the Netherlands that will be led by the firm’s German head Philipp Pohoralek as country manager.

With only weeks to go in 2022, the three major pharmas each had inked between 16 and 20 deals. Meanwhile, Pfizer has been less busy with 12 deals, but those include M&A totaling $18.2bn.