Recent Articles in Free Articles

Deals and Financings

• Shanghai’s Elpiscience formed a $1.7 billion collaboration with Japan’s Astellas Pharma to develop a novel bispecific macrophage engager, ES019, along with an unspecified program;
• Gracell Biotech, a Suzhou-San Diego cell therapy company, will be acquired by AstraZeneca in a deal worth up to $1.2 billion, including Gracell’s FasTCAR next-day manufacturing technology;
• Jinan Qilu Pharma in-licensed greater China rights to PCSK9-targeting antisense oligonucleotide from Suzhou Ribo Life Science in a deal worth $100 million;
• LianBio, a Shanghai-Princeton in-licensing biotech, sold China rights for a radioenhancer to Janssen Pharma in a $30 million agreement;

Trials and Approvals

• Suzhou Innovent formed a clinical trial collaboration with Xuanzhu Biopharma that will pair Innovent’s sintilimab, an approved PD-1 inhibitor, with Xuanzhu’s novel HER-2 ADC for solid tumor cancers;
• Innovent Biologics and Sanegene Bio, a Suzhou-Boston RNA company, will collaborate to co-develop SGB-3908, a siRNA drug candidate targeting angiotensinogen to treat hypertension;
• Beijing Biocytogen and CtM Biotech (Shanghai) reported that their tri-specific T cell engager for an intracellular target showed preclinical anti-tumor activity for hematological malignancies and solid tumors.
  
  Share this with colleagues:  
  
  

Deals and Financings

• GSK acquired ex-Greater China rights to a B7-H3 targeted ADC aimed at solid tumor cancers from Jiangsu’s Hansoh Pharma in a $1.7 billion agreement, the second ADC partnered by the companies;
• Boston’s Nona Biosciences out-licensed global rights for its MSLN-targeted ADC to Pfizer for $53 million in upfront and near-term payments and $1 billion in potential milestones;
• Suzhou CStone Pharma sold China-Singapore rights for Tibsovo® (ivosidenib tablets) to Servier of Paris for $50 million; Servier already owns the drug outside of China;
• Huadong Medicine will collaborate with Shanghai’s Impact Therapeutics to promote Impact’s Senaparib, a novel PARP inhibitor, in mainland China in a $40 million deal;
• Suzhou GeneQuantum Healthcare, an ADC company, will collaborate with Beijing’s BioMap, an AI startup that analyzes the sequence and structure of proteins, to co-develop ADC therapeutics;
• Zhejiang Ablaze Medicine, a Hangzhou company that provides clinical trial services, formed a partnership with Singapore’s Oncoshot, a company using AI to streamline trials;
• Nanjing InxMed licensed rights to a EZWi-Fit® linker-payload platform developed by Shanghai’s Escugen to develop ADCs containing next-gen tumor-associated antigens;
• Beijing Biocytogen Pharma sold Barcelona’s Ona Therapeutics an option to evaluate Biocytogen’s RenMice®-derived antibodies against a specific tumor target;

Trials and Approvals

• CellOrigin Biotechnology (Hangzhou) announced a solid-tumor patient was dosed in a China trial of SY001, the first China trial of a CAR-macrophage therapy;
• RNAimmune, a Sirnaomics subsidiary, was authorized to start US Phase I trials of RV-1770, an mRNA vaccine aimed at Respiratory Syncytial Virus.
  
  Share this with colleagues:  
  
  

Deals and Financings

• SystImmune, the Seattle arm of Chengdu’s Biokin Pharma, out-licensed global rights (ex-China) for a bispecific ADC to Bristol Myers Squibb in a $8.4 billion agreement including $800 million upfront;
• Evive Biotech, a Yifan Pharma subsidiary developing novel biological drugs, formed an antibody discovery collaboration using Boston’s Nona Biosciences Harbour Mice® antibody technology platform;
• Shanghai Fosun Pharma reported that a Japan-based Global Health Fund will contribute $3.3 million to support a global Phase III clinical trial of a novel malaria therapy;

Trials and Approvals

• Suzhou CStone Pharma was approved to market its anti-PD-L1 mAb as a first-line therapy for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, the fourth approval for sugemalimab in China;
• Suzhou OSAI Biopharma announced that its Phase III clinical trial of a vaginal L. crispatus live bacteria capsule met its primary endpoints of reducing bacterial vaginosis;
• Shanghai Alebund Pharmaceuticals announced positive Phase II proof-of-concept results for a first-in-class, pan-inhibitor of sodium-dependent phosphate transporters;
• Connect Biopharma reported encouraging topline results from the global Phase IIb trial for rademikibart, a next-gen interleukin-4 receptor alpha (IL-4Rα) inhibitor, for asthma;
• Shanghai Yingli Pharma reported its (PI3Kδ) inhibitor was effective in a pivotal Phase II trial for peripheral T-cell lymphoma.
  
  Share this with colleagues:  
  
  

Deals and Financings

• Shanghai Abbisko Therapeutics sold greater China commercialization rights for pimicotinib, a small molecule CSF-1R inhibitor, to Germany’s Merck in a $605 million deal ($70 million upfront);
• Xtalpi, a China-US AI drug discovery company, filed for a Hong Kong IPO to support its quantum physics, AI, robotics- platform for small molecule or biologics discovery;
• Aspen Pharmacare of South Africa will expand its China operations by acquiring Sandoz’s China business for $100 million plus $20 million in revenue milestones;
• Adcentrx Therapeutics, a San Diego-Shanghai ADC biotech, added $13 million to the Series A+ funding announced earlier this year, bringing the total to $51 million;
• AbelZeta Pharma, a Maryland-Shanghai company, will co-develop a GPC3-targeting CAR-T therapy aimed at hepatocellular carcinoma in China with AstraZeneca;
• Suzhou Innovent Biologics will expand its partnership with Synaffix, a Lonza company, using the company’s technology to develop an antibody-drug conjugate candidate;

Company News

• Trading in WuXi Biologics was stopped Monday after its shares dropped 24% following an investor presentation that predicted lower revenues and profits for 2023’s second half;

Trials and Approvals

• 280Bio treated the first patient with TEB-17231, a small molecule inhibitor of RAS signaling being tested in solid tumor cancers with KRAS, NRS and HRAS alterations;
• Jiangsu Ractigen Therapeutics filed an IND in Australia to start clinical trials of its lead small acting RNA product in patients with non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer as a second-line therapy;
• Singapore’s CytoMed announced plans to conduct Investigator Initiated Trials in China of its allogeneic gamma delta T cells as therapies for solid tumor cancers.
  
  Share this with colleagues:  
  
  

Deals and Financings

• LianBio, a Princeton-Shanghai in-licensing company, received a $465 million buyout offer from Tang Capital that includes a contingent value right for 80% of any license or divestment of a LianBio holding;
• Perpetual Medicines of Shanghai and Boston closed an $8 million seed financing to advance its integrated computational design and synthesis platform for peptide drug discovery;
• Accutar Biotech, a New Jersey-Shanghai AI company, will partner with Palo Alto’s Evommune to discover novel small molecule drug candidates for immune-mediated inflammatory diseases;
• China’s Zhifei Biological will expand into metabolic therapeutics by acquiring Chongqing Chenan Biopharma and its six metabolic drug candidates in clinical trials;
• South Korea’s DxVx plans to in-license China and South Korea rights for a novel anti-cancer vaccine from Oxford Vacmedix, a spin-out from Oxford University;

Company News

• Coherus Biosciences will set the US price for its in-licensed PD-1 drug, Loqtorzi, at a “modest” 20% discount to the industry leader, Merck’s Keytruda;
• AstraZeneca, a UK-Sweden big pharma, plans to build a major R&D center in Hong Kong devoted to developing new cell and gene therapy drugs for global use;

Trials and Approvals

• Shanghai Everest Medicines was approved for a China launch of Nefecon® to treat primary immunoglobulin A nephropathy, a rare renal disease, in adults at risk of disease progression;
• Shanghai GenFleet Therapeutics reported China’s CDE has accepted for review the company’s NDA for a KRAS G12C inhibitor that was also granted Priority Review;
• Gracell Biotech, a Suzhou-San Diego CAR-T company, was approved to start a US Phase I/II clinical trial of its FasTCAR-T GC012F in patients with refractory systemic lupus erythematosus.
  
  Share this with colleagues: