While the European Medicines Agency and industry speculate as to why 2022 saw far fewer applications for a place on the priority medicines scheme for drugs for unmet medical needs, they are enthusiastic about improvements to the initiative that are set to be trialed soon.

Evopoint and Kaken also ring in the new year with multiple deals. Biocytogen licenses antibodies against a specified target derived from its RenMice platform technology to Hansoh Pharma.

After ending 2022 with more than $1bn in cash, the US firm is keen to validate its in vivo approach to gene therapy with investigational new drug applications and pivotal trials lined up for two core rare disease programs.

Despite all of the buzz around adoption of digital health tools and whopping VC investments in consumer-facing digital health firms, pharma has yet to articulate a business model for co-development or integration of behavior-modifying digital therapeutics into their portfolios.