Asahi Kasei established a US presence and expertise in renal disease when it bought Veloxis in 2020 and will expand in both areas with Calliditas’s Tarpeyo for immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN).

Fabhalta and atrasentan are odds-on for approval in C3 glomerulopathy and IgA nephropathy, respectively, but commercial success might be harder to come by.

A few hiccups aside, Tarpeyo is on track in the US, but major competition from Novartis is just round the corner.

The US biotech’s DB-OTO has made headlines worldwide after a baby with profound genetic deafness experienced improved hearing to normal levels within 24 weeks after a single intracochlear injection.