A year is a long time in biopharma. Pharmaprojects’ annual pipeline review finds changes in the therapeutic spread of drug candidates and a reordering of the top R&D companies, as Chinese firms made their presence felt all the more over the past 12 months.

The private British biotech announced positive results from its Phase IIa study of BPL-003, which it said support its Phase IIb study of the same DMT-based drug.

Pipeline is concentrated around Phase II, but sponsors have a few chances to see how FDA handles its ‘foundational constructs’ for psychedelic drugs, led by Lykos’ pending NDA for PTSD and Compass Pathways’ Phase III synthetic psilocybin COMP360 for treatment-resistant depression.

The drug maker will spend up to $610m to acquire Caraway, with a lead product candidate targeting TRPML1, a pathway implicated in a number of neurodegenerative diseases.