Japan will end full reimbursement coverage for COVID-19 therapeutic drugs from October, after downgrading the status of the virus to the same level as seasonal flu in early May. As authorities discuss the possible coverage reduction, a larger than usual price cut may also be applied to Shionogi's oral COVID antiviral Xocova.

Private Company Edition: Two companies raised multiple hundreds of millions of dollars each helping to keep the number of $100m-plus venture capital mega-rounds on the rise in May. Also, Ascend raised $132.5m to make gene and cell therapies, and Nido emerged with $109m for neurological diseases.

Two Swedish companies are working on tackling GERD – one with a drug, one with a device.

Amid positive ongoing forex impact, Astellas, Shionogi and Daiichi Sankyo logged solid fiscal years and Chugai has good growth in its first quarter, although some of the majors are expecting a decline in sales as demand due to COVID-19 wanes. Even so, Shionogi logged record results on the back on government procurement of its pandemic antiviral.