Recent Articles in Deals & Financings

Merck (MSD) has altered its mammoth ADC partnership with Sichuan’s Kelun-Biotech by adding one candidate and dropping another. In 2022, Merck made major news by entering three partnerships with Kelun worth a maximum of $12.7 billion. Now, Merck plans to acquire a global license to SKB571, a bispecific ADC aimed at solid tumor cancers, paying $37.5 million upfront. At the same time, it returned rights to SKB315, a CLDN18.2 ADC. The agreement between the two companies is well underway: Kelun received $90 million in milestone payments from Merck in the first half of 2024. More details....

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Finland’s Bone Index, a company that develops bone health diagnostic devices, completed a funding round with Lynx Financial (HK) Limited. Bone Index has developed a product that offers a quick, accurate measurement of bone health, in early screening and hospital settings. The company's product has been approved for use in the US and EU. Lynx is an investment firm that provides a bridge to Asia for Life Sciences and Medical Technology companies. More details....

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TYK Medicines is staging a Hong Kong IPO that will raise US$74 million to support its portfolio of small molecule cancer drugs. TYK is developing 11 drug candidates (including its core product TY-9591), six clinical-stage products and four preclinical or early-stage clinical development products. One year ago, TY-9591 started a pivotal Phase II trial as a first-line treatment of EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer with brain metastases. TY-9591 was designed to improve the efficacy of AstraZeneca’s Tagrisso (osimertinib), and it will be compared to osimertinib in the trial. TYK Medicines is headquartered in Huzhou, Zhejiang province China. More details....

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The Life Science business of Merck KGaA Singapore partnered with NSG BioLabs, a Singapore provider of biotech co-working laboratory and office space, to provide resources to biotech start-ups and improve the R&D capabilities of the site’s tenants. The collaboration plans to offer guidance, mentorship, and access to expertise to startups. Since 2019, NSG BioLabs has housed innovators who are developing products for precision medicine, nucleic acids, AI-enabled drug discovery and synthetic biology. NSG BioLabs claims to have helped over 40 companies, including several multi-billion-dollar multinationals, which have raised nearly $400 million. More details....

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Shanghai OcuMension acquired Chinese rights to a portfolio of dry eye treatments from Alcon in exchange for a 16.7% stake in OcuMension’s shares. The shares, which are worth about US$110 million, will make Alcon one of OcuMension’s largest shareholders. Each company will also grant the other company a right of first negotiation over future products. OcuMension is an ophthalmic pharmaceutical company with a portfolio of 25 pharmaceutical assets. Alcon is a global company focused on offering eye care products. More details....

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