The major will use funds from the sale of its male hypogonadism product to invest in future innovation, which is likely to focus on high-risk high-reward cell and gene drug candidates.

The German group is putting another €1.3bn into its Leaps by Bayer investment arm until the end of 2024 to support new companies that are "shifting core paradigms in the sectors of health and agriculture."

The Cambridge, MA start-up aims to ‘democratize’ therapies based on induced pluripotent stem cells by developing an automated manufacturing system.