The highs of the COVID-19 era, and the lows that supplanted it, are beginning to fade.

Public Company Edition: Mallinckrodt entered into a restructuring support agreement with most of its debt holders and will de-list. Also, Aprinoia no longer plans to go public in a SPAC merger and Novartis, Agenus and Aravive revealed job cuts.

Recent financings, including the $150m launch of Pathalys and a planned $100m IPO for Mineralys, illustrate the reality of biopharma funding in 2023 – that having near-term clinical trial milestones are key to fundraising this year. Companies with dwindling cash are conserving the funds they have left.

With the global market in sight, several Asian bioventures discussed at BioJapan event recent projects, strategies and challenges in expanding their businesses in APAC. The different characteristics of policies by country and facets of venture capital funding were some of the topics when speakers talked about “what's the ideal collaboration between Asian bioventures?”