Private Company Edition: Sironax completed a $200m series B round while IDRx launched with $122m and OriCell raised $120m in series C funds, joining end-of-July $100m-plus fundraiser Carmot Therapeutics, which closed a $160m series D financing. 

Private Company Edition: XtalPi raised $318.8m for its AI-based drug discovery platform and machine learning-enabled Flagship start-up Valo Health has brought in nearly $100m. XtalPi had one of three recent venture capital mega-rounds for China-based companies.

AbbVie has added Mission Therapeutics to its preclinical partnership roster with a neurology deal to develop DUB inhibitors in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. 

Heading into Phase III in 2019 is Lilly's dual agonist of GLP-1 and GIP, which has shown notable therapeutic effects on blood sugar and body weight in type 2 diabetics in a mid-stage clinical study. Meanwhile Lilly/Boehringer Ingelheim's SGLT2 inhibitor, empagliflozin, is being discussed with regulators with regard to its use in type 1 diabetics, an additional indication, following the release of full results from the EASE Phase III program.