China's Chengdu New Radiomedicine Technology and the radiotherapy CRDMO Mitro Biotech bagged a combined $94m in their respective new financing rounds during March. Meanwhile, Beijing Varnotech Biopharm secured $83m for its vaccine candidates for the prevention of herpes zoster and respiratory syncytial virus infections. 

The German major's internal R&D fortunes in the cardiovascular space have been mixed, with asundexian faltering in a recent atrial fibrillation trial, so getting hold of the European rights to BridgeBio's recently-filed ATTR-CM therapy is a timely boost.

Several Chinese biotech developments during the Lunar New Year break have put investors on high alert, namely the continued share price slide of Chinese biotech bellwether WuXi Apptec, Lianbio ceasing operations and I-Mab divesting its China business to become a fully US-focused company.

On the new company creation front, using Series A financings as a proxy, start-ups have not escaped the challenging funding environment. Here we update trends in those first-time rounds for 2023.