Biotech's asymmetrical, shorter RNAi therapeutics are water-soluble and therefore can be self-delivering. Lead candidate RXI-109 is being studied in both hypertrophic and retinal scarring, but the firm has new funding that could help it move into oncology.

Under the leadership of new president David Holveck, Johnson & Johnson Development Corp. is aligning its strategy more closely with the needs and wants of J&J's many companies.

VCs love a part-baked start-up, and one of the best places to find them is within Big Pharma. So it was that Belgium-based Movetis NV raised a record €49 million ($63.4 million) A round in January with a bunch of gastrointestinal-focused assets from Johnson & Johnson.

Endotis Pharma joins the growing ranks of firms focused on glycoscience, or the science of sugars. Endotis' expertise is twofold: in understanding and regulating protein-sugar interactions, and in synthesizing small sugar-based drugs, or "glycodrugs," which can disrupt these interactions.