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.

The French firm will use the funds to establish proof-of-concept for two gene therapy programs in a rare eye condition as it strives to become a world leader in ophthalmic genomic medicine, its CEO tells Scrip.

Evolving challenges will keep the COVID-19 pipeline active, while oncology, immunology and CNS are areas also expected to see much progress in 2022. Industry executives look forward to the year in therapeutic R&D.

The French biotech has managed to bag a blue-chip partner to advance its ambitions to be the leading company in the ocular genomic medicine space, getting access to Intellia's CRISPR/Cas9 technology.