Although the World Health Organization (WHO) acknowledged COVID-19 is spreading, they say it has not yet reached pandemic disease status. The statement did little to comfort the nerves of investors Feb. 24 as they exited global markets big time in the wake of an eruption of new infections in Italy, Iran and South Korea.

Redwood City, Calif.-based Q Bio Inc., which is offering a quantitative assessment of personal health, has come out of stealth mode, scooping up $40 million in a series B funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz. The funds are earmarked to improve its proprietary platform and technology to make its preventive health services faster, better and more affordable for all.

HONG KONG – Beijing-headquartered Canbridge Pharmaceuticals Inc. has completed a $98 million series D financing round to target rare genetic diseases in China, and is considering an IPO after several rounds of financing to further pursue its goal.

BEIJING – Chinese biosimilar maker Bio-Thera Solutions Ltd., of Guangzhou, on Feb. 21 launched a pre-revenue listing on Shanghai’s STAR market, a Nasdaq-style tech board, to reap $241 million at a valuation of almost $2 billion. Its share price soared more than 83% during its first trading day.

DUBLIN – Meda AB’s acquisition in 2014 of the veteran Italian specialty pharma firm Rottapharm generated a €1.975 billion (US$2.2 billion) payday for the latter firm’s owners, the Rovati family. A small fraction of that amount is now being recycled into a new investment initiative, Aurora Science, which is a three-way partnership among Monza-based Rottapharm Biotech Srl (the R&D arm of the company that was not part of the Meda transaction), the Milan-based specialty pharma Italfarmaco SpA and Aurora-TT Srl, a Milan-based commercial technology transfer company.