Pfizer has reached a deal to buy Global Blood Therapeutics for $5.4bn, gaining the sickle cell therapy Oxbryta and building on efforts to reach underserved patient groups.

A roundup of key regulatory and policy developments in the Asia-Pacific in the first half of the year reveals broad developments across the region's diverse markets, although there seemed to be a common thread - a renewed focus on infectious diseases amid the lingering impact of the pandemic and the emergence of new threats.

The lack of distractions from a large domestic market and a close proximity of research centers are just two advantages for the flourishing Swiss biotech sector, which enjoyed a bumper year in 2021, says its industry association. 

Already owner of about 60% of the troubled antibiotic firm, Innoviva agrees to pay $2.20 per share for all outstanding stock in Entasis. Roche, KaliVir partner on oncolytic virus therapies.