In this installment of VC Playbook, profiling venture capital strategies in biopharma and medtech, In Vivo talks to Sofinnova’s Graziano Seghezzi about market access trends, Italy’s growing biotech offering and the perils of “health nationalism” to business partnering in the aftermath of COVID-19.

A rush in the 2010s of high-tech and digital companies focused on women’s health and wellbeing are maturing, adding weight to the more traditional women's health market that has struggled to get attention from investors in the past.

Corin has transformed from a niche UK hip resurfacing company into an innovative global player in orthopedics with a portfolio that includes robotics. UK branch managing director Paul Gibbons explained the group’s approach to business during COVID-19 and its culture of innovation.

Emmanuel Ligner, president and CEO of Cytiva, talks to In Vivo about how the company will dramatically increase its manufacturing capabilities over the next five years, at a price tag of $500m.

Already producing a broader range of biologics than any biotech firm in the world, from antibodies via plasma products to testing assays to vaccines, the state-owned China National Biotec Group is becoming even bigger with policy support and one surprising helper: the coronavirus pandemic. But might it face challenges from innovators and foreign firms in a changing environment?

Innovation has come of age in Asia, throwing up investment opportunities in China, Singapore and other Southeast Asian countries that Novo Holdings plans to tap into, says CEO Kasim Kutay. The firm's Asia head, Amit Kakar, also outlines therapeutic areas of interest for the company, which is managing $65bn worth of assets.