Bayer is handing back rights to two early-stage off-the-shelf CAR-Ts to Atara, but the split could still be good news for the biotech company.

The German group is putting another €1.3bn into its Leaps by Bayer investment arm until the end of 2024 to support new companies that are "shifting core paradigms in the sectors of health and agriculture."

The Cambridge, MA start-up aims to ‘democratize’ therapies based on induced pluripotent stem cells by developing an automated manufacturing system.

Nearly a year into the job, research chief Christian Rommel tells Scrip he is impressed with Bayer's arm's length approach to running acquired firms like AskBio and BlueRock and the task ahead is to deliver on the potential they offer, while getting later-stage projects across the approvals finishing line.