Private Company Edition: Venture capital mega-rounds continue a brisk pace with machine learning-based drug discovery firm insitro and gene therapy developer Graphite Bio among recent $100m-plus deals. Also, Argobio raised €50m to fund five start-ups in Europe. 

One year on, we’ve seen how the coronavirus prompted entrepreneurial instincts to surface in the medtech and healthtech sectors. Asia healthtech investor specialist HealthXCapital tells Medtech Insight about the changes that are likely to stick as in an industry that has seen the value of rapid responsiveness to acute need.

Botox was a game-changer, which means challengers to Allergan's blockbuster are on the way. Dermal fillers and devices also have an important role, but dermatologists say innovation is needed to fill treatment gaps. Business development is ongoing to expand companies' product portfolios.

The pipeline of acne therapeutics is packed with possibilities, but of four candidates to report data so far this year, only one was successful – Allergan's and Paratek's sarecycline, which may be a better antibiotic option, but doesn't give dermatologists a much-needed new mechanism of action.