1️⃣ Servier paid up for pediatric glioma control
Servier completed its Day One tender offer on April 23 at $21.50 per share, or about $2.5B in equity value, adding marketed OJEMDA and a rare-cancer pipeline led by Emi-Le and DAY301.
💡 Why it matters
Approved rare-oncology assets still clear at real prices when they also bring follow-on pipeline and U.S. commercial infrastructure.
☕ Coffee talk
Day One had one marketed drug and expansion shots. How many rare-oncology boards just rewrote their exit memo?
2️⃣ Kurma just put more dry powder behind Europe
Kurma Partners closed Biofund IV at EUR215M on April 23, lifting firmwide AUM to EUR1B; the fund already has 11 investments and plans to back around 20 companies in total.
💡 Why it matters
Specialist biotech capital in Europe is still scaling. The money is going into company creation and follow-on rounds, not waiting for the IPO window to save it.
☕ Coffee talk
If dedicated Europe biotech money still gets raised here, is the bottleneck capital or just which companies deserve it?
3️⃣ Novartis moved gene therapy further up the SMA age curve
CHMP backed Itvisma on April 24 for children two and older, teens and adults with 5q SMA, after Phase 3 STEER showed a 2.39-point HFMSE improvement versus 0.51 with sham.
💡 Why it matters
One-shot gene replacement is pushing beyond infants, which changes both reimbursement math and the ceiling for chronic SMA therapy revenue.
☕ Coffee talk
Europe may soon have a one-shot option for older SMA. What happens to every franchise built on repeat dosing?