India’s national list of essential medicines 2022 features 34 additions, including insulin glargine, teneligliptin, lenalidomide, bedaquiline and montelukast, with price control expected to follow on these drugs.

Oversee returnee-founded Chinese biotech start-ups Nuwacell and Arnatar secure $14m in series A and seed rounds respectively, while four other major deals backed by private equity and venture capital firms raise a combined $116m.

While the Phase IIb SOLANO trial of ION449 met its primary endpoint, AstraZeneca had set a high bar of 70% LDL cholesterol reduction for competitiveness that the study did not hit.

PARP inhibitors have had great success in treating a number of cancers but the German major has placed a $65m bet that Nerviano's selective PARP1 approach could produce a safer and more efficacious option.