Astellas’ chief strategy officer, Adam Pearson, talks to Scrip about the company’s launch execution thrust for key therapies ahead of the loss of exclusivity for Xtandi and also deal-making appetite and choices, including the Iveric Bio buyout and walking away from the collaboration with Cartesian Therapeutics.

After reducing 500 employees last year while reorganizing its subsidiaries in the US in the aftermath of patent expiration for its mainstay product Latuda, the Japanese firm has decided to move ahead with another rationalization affecting 400 employees there.

Public Company Edition: ImmunoGen received the first $75m under a $175m term loan, while Protagonist raised $100m in a follow-on offering, but companies with bankruptcy filings and job cuts outpaced those accessing new capital by a wide margin in late March and early April.

Sumitovant offered $22.75 per share in cash, valuing Myovant at $2.4bn total, to acquire what it does not hold as a result of its 2019 agreement to buy majority shares of five Roivant companies.