The US firm released promising interim data from a mid-stage Becker muscular dystrophy trial, claiming success here could translate to Duchenne as it unveiled plans for more studies across similar conditions.

Evolving challenges will keep the COVID-19 pipeline active, while oncology, immunology and CNS are areas also expected to see much progress in 2022. Industry executives look forward to the year in therapeutic R&D.

Just nine drug developers went public in the US during the first quarter of last year, but with the industry boosted by pandemic response, 32 biopharma companies launched IPOs in Q1 of this year.

Private Company Edition: China-focused Nuance Pharma led recent venture capital deals with a $181m series D round, RayzeBio closed a $105m series B and SciNeuro launched with $100m plus other notable rounds from Edgewise, Reneo, BioAge and others.