Initial public offerings by Norbert Bischofberger’s start-up as well as Spruce Biosciences and Shattuck Labs bring the US total to 65 in 2020. Also, the pipeline of health care SPACs is growing, Everest and Genor went public in Hong Kong, Idorsia leads recent follow-on offerings and Corbus cuts jobs.

Private Company Edition: The Alliance for Regenerative Medicine’s half-year report shows the sector raised $10.7bn in the first half of 2020 versus $9.8bn raised in all of 2019. Also, DCVC Bio closed a $350m fund, new incubator opportunities and VC mega-deals for Dyne and Atomwise.

Antibacterials have been part of Merck's mission for decades, despite the market challenges, and it's expecting two new approvals this year. Infectious disease VP Joan Butterton talks about tackling those challenges and incentives that may help the industry address antimicrobial resistance.

Two-week treatment data comparing the investigational echinocandin antifungal with caspofungin shows trend toward better cure rate with similar efficacy. Cidara plans Phase III trials for treatment and prevention of difficult-to-treat infections.