Private Company Edition: Scrip spoke with DDF US partner Jonathan Behr about the convergence of emerging science, venture capital investment and rising big pharma interest in neurodegeneration. Also, in recent VC financings HotSpot raised $100m, while Curie and Ablaze debuted with $75m each. 

VBI Vaccines obtained FDA approval of its three-antigen hepatitis B vaccine PreHevbrio and will take on GSK’s Engerix-B and Dynavax’s Heplisav-B as CDC recommends universal HBV immunization.

DiaSorin will distribute MeMed BV, a rapid point-of-care test that can differentiate bacterial and viral infections, under a new commercial agreement.

PI3K-delta inhibitors have often suffered from safety and tolerability issues, but Phase II data show higher efficacy and lower discontinuation rates for zandelisib than others in the class.