Among the latest financing deals, advanced therapeutics such as cell and gene therapies (CGT) continued enjoying the spotlight from venture capital and private equity investors in China. Meanwhile, small molecules with novel mechanism of action such as molecule glue stood out from their peers to win investors’ favor.

Shanghai-based Ark Biosciences has expanded its pipeline from the RSV-targeting drug ziresovir, licensed from Roche, to pediatric and fibrosis treatments, where there are largely untapped opportunities in China. In a strategy shift, the company is betting on the domestic market instead of going global.

Plus deals involving Santen/Harrow/Visiox, Aurobindo/BioFactura, AFT/Crossject, Imugene/RenovoRx, Biotheus/BioNTech, GeneQuantum/InxMed, ObsEva/Yuyuan, Monopar/National University of Singapore and Doer Biologics/BioNTech.

Turnstone’s initial public offering comes just one week after Apogee and Sagimet launched US IPOs. Also, Westlake Village BioPartners raised $450m for its third venture capital fund and argenx grossed $1.27bn in a post-Phase III follow-on offering.