Industry veteran Miguel Forte navigates new kid on the block Kiji Therapeutics into the clinic to prove cell therapy manufacturing doesn’t need to decelerate commercial viability.

Presenting at conferences allows companies to showcase data on new drugs and secure licensing partners, as well as further investment by shareholders. But two presentations at the recent EHA conference had the opposite effect.

Public Company Edition: Neumora grossed $250m and RayzeBio raised $311m in the first initial public offerings since early August. Also, ImmunityBio completes $470m in equity and debt financings, Bausch + Lomb sells $1.4bn worth of notes and Arbutus is among firms making cuts to conserve cash.

The 19 breakthrough therapy designations awarded so far this year run the gamut from areas that traditionally have not fared well with BTDs, like cardiovascular and respiratory disease, alongside the traditional cancer and orphan disease tentpoles.