Connect Biopharma has moved its headquarters to San Diego from Suzhou in a move that makes the company US-centric. But the company’s future direction isn’t clear. It has two clinical stage autoimmune drug candidates and $110 million in cash after a $220 million IPO on Nasdaq three years ago. But it isn’t conducting any clinical trials currently. In 2023, it out-licensed China rights to its lead drug, rademikibart, to Simcere in a $141m ($21m upfront) deal. Simcere is conducting a China trial, and it supplied all of Connect’s $24 million in first-half revenues this year. Connect would like to find some way to conduct a US Phase III trial of rademikibart without paying for it, probably an out-licensing. What happens after that? The company doesn’t say. More details....

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Shanghai’s EpimAb Biotherapeutics sold global (ex-China) rights for a clinical-stage asset to Vignette Bio, a San Francisco startup, in a $635 million deal. EpimAb’s EMB-06 is a BCMA-targeting T-cell engager that is currently in a Phase I/II trial in China and Australia for multiple myeloma. EpimAb is an oncology company, but Vignette focuses on novel therapies for immunology and inflammation indications. It believes that B-cell depletion is often effective in autoimmune disorders, and EpimAb agrees that EMB-06 may prove useful in Vignette’s intended target. Vignette is a clinical stage company that was incubated by Foresite Labs. More details....

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Hangzhou Hygieia Biotech completed an A2 financing to advance its 11 siRNA molecules, including a portfolio of three clinical stage candidates. The company said the round raised “tens of millions of yuan.” In a previous A1 round, completed in July, the company booked almost $14 million (100 million yuan), in a funding led by Tasly Pharma. With very little venture capital, Hegieia has already moved to partnership stage on two of its assets, one with Shanghai Fosun and the other with Tasly. The company is currently working on an A+ round for additional funds to support clinical trials. The A2 round was led by Huangpu Biotechnology Fund, with Nanwan Baiao Fund participating. More details....

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Shenzhen TargetRx raised $20 million by selling China commercial rights for an ALK inhibitor to Nanjing’s Simcere Zaiming. The deal solves two issues facing TargetRx: it now has a partner for commercialization, and it has brought in more capital. The company’s last raise was $21.2 million in 2021, so the new funds are probably welcome as TargetRx steps up clinical trials of its two lead drugs, including the ALK inhibitor. TargetRx is conducting a Phase III China trial of TGRX-326, a third-generation dual-targeting anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitor that crosses the blood-brain barrier, showing efficacy in NSCLC patients with brain metastases. More details....

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Deals and Financings

• Belgium’s UCB divested its entire current China five-drug portfolio, making way for its late-stage clinical assets; CBC paid $680 million for the older drugs;
• Shanghai’s YolTech sold China rights for its PCSK9-targeting base editing therapeutic to Shenzhen Salubris Pharma in a $145 million deal;
• New Jersey’s Navigator Medicines raised $100 million in initial funding to develop an OX40L-targeted portfolio in-licensed from Korea’s IMBiologics;
• Bora Pharmaceuticals, a Taiwan CDMO, continued its acquisition of US-based CDMOs by acquiring a 30.5% share of San Diego’s Tanvex Biopharma;
• Shanghai DualityBio plans to conduct a Hong Kong IPO to support its portfolio of ADC therapeutics for cancer and autoimmune diseases.
  
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