Public Company Edition: Verona Pharma arranged up to $400m in new debt and up to $250m in revenue-related financing ahead of its COPD drug launch. Also, Organon, Sobi and Pacira priced $1bn, $275.1m and $250m note sales, respectively. Marinus, Emergent and Ginkgo cut jobs.

A more than 70% stock slide shows that investors are concerned about three as-yet unexplained deaths in a Phase II study of the US firm’s lead candidate.

Apparently months after his actual detention, news has finally surfaced that a key researcher behind China's rapid development of a homegrown COVID-19 vaccine is said to have "severely violated" Communist Party rules and regulations and is the subject of a probe for possible corruption.

Private Company Edition: Attovia will advance two anti-IL-31 programs with its $105m in series B funding, while ImmuNext secured $575m in a Royalty Pharma deal for its Sanofi-partnered drug. Also, Bluejay and Aardvark raised $182m and $85m, respectively, in series C rounds.