South Korea’s clinical trial approvals rebounded in 2023, but remained lower than the peak levels in 2020-21 amid then robust R&D activity related to COVID-19. Last year's tally showed a mix of single-country and multinational trials and reflected the ongoing dominance of oncology in industry pipelines.

Plus deals involving Advanz/Dimerix, Boehringer Ingelheim/Zeiss Medical Technology, Roche/Ionis, Kriya/Everads and updates from the world of technology transfer.

Private Company Edition: Venture capital mega-rounds of $100m or more held steady in April after a slow January and February then a surge in March, but VC fundraising is down overall this year. In recent raises, Enveda series B expanded to $119m, Vedanta brought in $106.5m and Convergent raised $90m.

The Swiss drug maker will initiate a "mass dismissal" and return rights to its lead drug candidate after the US FDA alerted the company to NDA deficiencies.