Private Company Edition: Regeneron launched a $500m venture fund and Canaan added $100m, bringing the venture firm’s recent total to $1bn-plus. Also, incubators plan to grow over the next decade and in recent financings Avenzo raised $150m and Nvelop launched with $100m.

Futura recorded its first notable revenues last year, generated by the launch of its Eroxon erectile dysfunction gel in the UK and Europe, marking the company's transition from an R&D startup to a consumer healthcare player in its own right. To mark the occasion, CEO James Barder outlines a new strategy, with a focus on innovation in sexual wellness, further global partnerships and sustained profitability. 

“FDA is seeking to encourage competition for new drugs by proposing to amend the Hatch-Waxman 3-year exclusivity provisions to ensure that this exclusivity is limited to situations where the new drug applicant is actually seeking such exclusivity,” according to legislative proposals document.

Healthcare conglomerates that divorce consumer, animal health and even generics businesses from their pure-play branded pharmaceutical groups could leave a less diversified and riskier sector in uncertain times. But the advantages are apparent.