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The Department of Health and Human Services officially transferred the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Wednesday, according to the Federal Register. ARPA-H was officially created as an agency in Public Law 117-103, as a part the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022. This transfer includes delegating the authority to the Director of NIH to administer, fund, and appoint personnel to the new agency.

Monash University has been ranked Number 1 in pharmacy and pharmacology, beating Oxford, Harvard and Cambridge. Monash University was recognised for a range of factors, including developing Australia’s first mRNA COVID-19 vaccine and its work on developing life-saving treatment for women who die during childbirth in developing countries.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. is moving its big annual healthcare conference in San Francisco to a virtual setting, telling participants the spreading Omicron variant of Covid-19 had made the in-person gathering too risky. The bank’s annual gathering is one of the biggest events for global healthcare professionals and CEOs, and it is often full of deal making. This year’s event, scheduled for the middle of January, will be the 40th version. The move comes after several biotechnology companies pulled out of planned in-person appearances, which were first reported on Tuesday by Stat News.

Record levels of dry powder and a fierce influx of nontraditional investors into the venture ecosystem have buoyed VC-backed company valuations to record heights in the second quarter of this year. PitchBook’s latest US VC Valuations Report examines how startup valuations across the venture lifecycle and sectors have changed in 2021. Among the report's findings is an observation that exit valuations grew at a decade-record rate, with median acquisition and public listings step-ups of 2.2x and 1.7x, respectively, from their last private market values.

Given volumes in the first half of this year, there is little doubt that 2021 will shape up to be the most active year in history for private financing activity in the life sciences sector.