The company sees aducanumab adding a modest boost to sales if approved, but there are another four Phase III programs with some major read-outs coming.

Private Company Edition: Last year set a high bar for venture capital, but this year is starting strong. Recent VC mega-deals include $500m for EQRx and $230m-plus for Tessera Therapeutics. Also, BioGeneration Ventures closed a €140m ($170.2m) fund and NewAmsterdam raised a $196m series A.

Days after buying Kymab, Sanofi partners with Israel’s Biond on IO candidate targeting ILT2. Gilead again tackles functional cure of hepatitis B in alliance with Vir.

NeuroPhage Pharmaceuticals, a privately held company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has been quietly advancing novel approaches to the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, and now has gained attention by landing $12.4 million in new venture funding. It will use the funds to begin preparations for a Phase I trial of its lead candidate to treat Alzheimer's disease, NPT001, which disaggregates existing beta amyloid plaques.