Private Company Edition: Recent biopharma venture capital financings add up to $1.7bn, including a $135m crossover round for HilleVax after spinning out of Takeda in July to advance a norovirus vaccine, Skyhawk’s $133m in fresh funding and Obsidian’s $115m series B round.

It is not only gene therapy companies that have found European payers hard to convince of the value of their products. Amarin’s proposed European pricing may lead to another US company exit.

Close to 90% of the FDA’s 2021 first half novel approvals were cleared in the US before Europe, while the EU’s EMA acted first on only 15% of its first half marketing authorizations for new active substances. Exclusive Pink Sheet analysis explores use of expedited review schemes, special pathways and other comparative trends.

A report from Silicon Valley Bank breaking down 2021 investment trends reveals half-year figures already close to matching those for the whole of 2020 – itself a record-breaking year. In Vivo spoke with SVB’s EMEA head of life sciences and health care for a deeper dive into underlying causes.