Private Company Edition: Two companies raised multiple hundreds of millions of dollars each helping to keep the number of $100m-plus venture capital mega-rounds on the rise in May. Also, Ascend raised $132.5m to make gene and cell therapies, and Nido emerged with $109m for neurological diseases.

Aspect says its bioprinted tissue therapeutics include immune-resistant encapsulation, which Novo Nordisk hopes will offer a safer approach to type 1 diabetes cell therapy.

A new national project to support bioventures and the venture capital funds investing in them has started in Japan. The strategic aim of the JPY50bn initiative is to enhance the speed of development and trials of new drugs and vaccines for infectious diseases, the lack of which became obvious since the breakout of COVID-19. 

BioMarin teams with Skyline on gene therapies for cardiovascular disease. Myrtelle discloses licensing of gene therapy for Canavan disease from Pfizer earlier in 2021.