The week in pharma: action, reaction and insight – week to September 23

Among last week’s news was French drugmaker Genfit announcing its decision to acquire Swiss firm Versantis for 42 million Swiss francs ($42 million) with a further 65 million francs contingent, in order to expand its liver disease portfolio. On the regulatory front, US biotech bluebird bio finally gained US Food and Drug Administration approval for its gene therapy Skysona (eli-cel), a treatment for a rare brain disease. Also, a positive vote from an FDA advisory committee sets the scene for Danish firm Ferring’s Rebyota to become the first microbiome-based therapy. Going against recent big pharma trends, the UK’s GSK has entered into a licensing deal for an antibiotic asset, VS-01, being developed by Spero Therapeutics.