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.

GentiBio closed a $157m series A venture capital round, while clinical trial innovator Reify Health raised a $220m series C and Neurelis secured $150m. Also, IPOs slowed in August, but Adagio and Eliem grossed $309.4m and $80m, respectively, and RNA firm Greenlight will go public in a $282m SPAC deal. 

Biopharma investor sentiment plunged at the end 2018, but soared as the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference kicked off with another big company acquisition and as industry participants indicated their optimism about financing and deal-making opportunities in 2019.

Daily round-up of news and notes from the 2019 J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco: AstraZeneca's net prices set to slide in 2019; biotechs ponder disasters from government shutdown; Denali moves into gene therapy; Sangamo clarifies partnering strategy; and Scrip talks to Allergan and Aptinyx about upcoming NMDA data releases.