Despite a global tendency for lower than average success rates from Phase I to approval in the challenging oncology and CNS areas, a recent Citeline study finds top Japanese pharma firms have relatively high rates in these two categories in the US. So what are the factors driving those differences?

Private Company Edition: Vertex Ventures (not Vertex Pharmaceuticals) closed its third fund, with $200m for life science and medical technologies, while Chugai’s $200m corporate VC fund will invest in drug discovery start-ups. Also, K36 closed a $70m series B round and Attovia launched with $60m.

Astellas’ Mike Luther sees 2023 as a year of growing assets and creating partnerships. The global head of search and evaluation business development told In Vivo about the company's focus on gene and cell therapy and what he thinks makes for a successful business deal.

US president Mark Reisenauer talked to Scrip about the company's next growth drivers, including fezolinetant for vasomotor symptoms and zolbetuximab for gastric cancer.