US FDA’s drugs center posted one of its lowest monthly approval counts of original applications in January, but new indications filled the gap, including new claims for Merck’s Keytruda, Takeda immunoglobulins, and Sanofi/Regeneron’s Dupixent.

Shin Nippon Biomedical Laboratories would take over migraine candidate STS101, now under FDA review. Blue Water Vaccines to pick up BPH drug from Veru.

AnGes has terminated R&D work on a DNA vaccine for COVID-19 and will now look at intranasal candidates with a US partner. Although the original project received funding from the Japanese government, a spike in related costs caused the Japanese firm's net loss to triple last year, and the decision represents the latest in a string of pipeline setbacks.

Private Company Edition: With academic muscle, Google cash and nanoparticles, and various CRISPR licenses, Verve will develop gene-editing therapies for coronary heart disease prevention. Also, Vividion raises an $82m series B and two Belgian companies bring in $77.8m in VC cash.