Hangzhou Jiuyuan Genetic Engineering has filed for an IPO on the Hong Kong Exchange to develop its portfolio of biopharmaceutical products and medical devices. Founded in 1993, the company has two major products: a drug-device combination product, Guyoudao, the first product containing bone repair material with rhBMP-2 that is approved for China use, and the first semaglutide biosimilar in China to have filed an NDA. Semaglutide is a Novo Nordisk GLP-1 product known as Wegovy for weight loss and Ozempic for type 2 diabetes. More details....

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Innovent Biologics announced a strategic partnership with Beijing’s WeComput to advance its AI based platform for drug development. WeComput will work with Innovent Academy, the company’s division that “thinks big” about future drug development and has already developed an AI platform. Innovent Academy will use WeComput's WeMol, a molecular design platform, to extend its computing infrastructure, accelerating R&D. WeMol will integrate NVIDIA's BioNeMo to expand the computing capacity of Innovent's AI systems and improve computational efficiency. WeComput is a subsidiary of Beijing Zhongda Weixin Technology, an IT company. Innovent is a Suzhou biopharma with additional R&D operations in Shanghai and San Francisco. More details....

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Nanjing Triastek, a company that uses 3D printing to manufacture pharmaceuticals, will develop oral RNA therapeutics with Germany’s BioNTech based on its 3D printing technology. Triastek will receive a $10 million upfront payment and up to $1.2 billion in milestones, plus royalties. Triastek uses its 3D technology to improve delivery of RNA therapeutics across the gastrointestinal mucosa, minimizing premature degradation and delivering RNA therapeutics to the gastrointestinal track areas with the greatest absorption. The collaboration aims to provide groundbreaking therapies that address unmet medical needs in an easy-to-administer oral formulation. More details....

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okyo’s Renalys Pharma raised $38.5 million in a Series A round to develop its lead drug, sparsentan, as a treatment for IbA nephropathy in Japan. The company plans to use the funds to complete a Japanese Phase III trial of sparsentan. The A round was led by Catalys Pacific and SR One. In January, Renalys acquired rights to sparsentan, a dual endothelin angiotensin receptor antagonist, from San Diego’s Travere Therapeutics in a $120 million deal with rights for Japan and other countries in Asia. Travere also received a minority stake in Renalys. More detail....

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San Diego’s Artiva Bio raised $167 million in a NASDAQ IPO to support clinical trials of its cell therapy portfolio. Artiva was spun out of South Korea’s GC Cell and has global rights (ex-Asia, Australia and New Zeeland) to GC Cell’s portfolio. The IPO was priced at $12 per share, lower than the expected $14-$16 range, but Artiva upped the number of shares in the IPO. Founded in 2019, Artiva develops natural killer (NK) cells that are developed from cord blood, making them allogeneic, unlike CAR-T therapies that are derived from a patient’s own cells. More details....

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