Industry reps are glad that Birenbaum, who was the chief cannabis policy advisor to the governors of New York and Rhode Island, was given a prominent role at FDA that could spur regulatory action.

Plus deals involving Takeda/Puma, SillaJen/Basilea, Celltrion/Abpro, METiS/Voronoi, Yuhan/AtoGen, Biocytogen/FineImmune and Avance/C3.

Fundamental VR, which developed a virtual surgical platform that uses advanced technologies such as haptic (touch) feedback, announced on 11 August it raised $20m in a series B round led by EQT Life Sciences and prior investors Downing Ventures.

Pfizer recorded the largest quarterly sales in its history as its COVID-19 franchise easily outweighed the currency issues that are challenging other companies. But expectations for a quick end to the pandemic have wiped these gains from Pfizer’s stock price.