Private Company Edition: Former Merck R&D head Roger Perlmutter and his new team have accessed drug candidates in oncology and neurodegenerative diseases from three companies, along with new funding. Also, Carmot raised $150m in series E equity and BenchSci brought in $70m.

The IL-23 inhibitor, entering an increasingly competitive space, posted significant results at Digestive Disease Week from the Phase IIb/III QUASAR induction study in ulcerative colitis.

Private Company Edition: Flare Therapeutics, targeting transcription factors to discover precision medicines, had big pharma backing for its second venture capital financing. Also, Mediar closed a $10m series A round, Switch launched with $52m and EpiBiologics raised a $50m series A round.

Solanezumab did not reduce the risk of progression in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease in the Phase III A4 study but it provided evidence that removing amyloid plaques – the mechanism of action for Lilly’s two remaining Phase III AD therapies, donanemab and remternetug – may be the key to efficacy.