Data from a small Phase II study show that Aldeyra’s methotrexate formulation may address the underlying cause of 20%-30% of RP cases. The drug recently was denied US FDA approval in a rare ocular cancer.

Both providers and users of digital pathology are confident that clinical use cases and the evidence needed to assure payers and encourage investment by commercial labs will overcome challenges around access and adoption.

During Q2, biopharma merger and acquisition value reached $25.4bn and drew in $27.3bn in potential deal value from alliances. Device company M&A values reached $2.7bn, while in vitro diagnostic firms and research tools players completed M&A activity that totaled $534.3m.

ARCH closed a $3bn VC fund to end the month of June while in the same week six public biopharma firms said they are cutting jobs. Even so, some publicly traded companies have been able to launch sizeable offerings, including a $450m note sale by Cytokinetics and Xenon’s $250m follow-on.