Recent Articles in Week in Review

Deals and Financings

• Shanghai Multitude Therapeutics out-licensed global rights (ex-China) for its Tissue Factor (TF) ADC to Denmark’s Adcendo in a $1 billion agreement;
• Hangzhou’s Huadong Pharmaceutical acquired rights for two immune disease therapies from IMBiologics of South Korea in a $383 million agreement;
• Finland’s Bone Index, a bone health diagnostic device company, completed a funding round with Lynx Financial (HK) Limited, which may foster a China partnership;
• India’s Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories and its CRDMO signed a non-binding MOU with Kainomyx, a US company, to develop an affordable anti-malaria drug;
• EA Pharma sold global rights for a calcimimetic to Pathalys Pharma that may control intact parathyroid hormone levels in hemodialysis patients;
• Merck (MSD) modified its set of ADC partnerships with Sichuan’s Kelun-Biotech by dropping one candidate and adding a bispecific solid tumor ADC for $37.5 million upfront;

Trials and Approvals

• GenFleet Therapeutics was approved for a China launch KRAS G12C inhibitor in patients with advanced NSCLC harboring a KRAS G12C mutation, the first KRAS therapy approved in China.
  
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Deals and Financings

• Japan’s Eisai Pharma will collaborate with SEED, a Pennsylvania biotech, to develop molecular glues for targeted degradation of proteins in a $1.5 billion deal;
• Shanghai OcuMension acquired Chinese rights to a portfolio of dry eye treatments from Alcon in exchange for a 17% stake in OcuMension’s shares worth $110 million;
• Huzhou TYK Medicines will complete a $74 million Hong Kong IPO  to support its portfolio of small molecule cancer drugs;
• Proto Axiom, an Australian biomedical incubator, announced a $20 million first close of a Series B round that is expected to eventually raise $30 million;
• Merck KGaA Singapore partnered with NSG BioLabs, a Singapore biotech co-working laboratory/office space, to provide resources for biotech startups;

Trials and Approvals

• Shanghai Visen Pharmaceuticals reported that 77% of patients met the primary endpoint in a China Phase III trial of its hypoparathyroidism therapy;
• Suzhou Ascentage Pharma has been cleared to start China Phase III trials of an oral Bcl-2 selective inhibitor in patients with higher-risk myelodysplastic syndrome;
• Biosyngen, a Singapore-Guangzhou cell therapy company, has been approved to start a pivotal US Phase II trial of its Epstein-Barr-Virus-specific CAR-T cell therapy;
• Hangzhou Vimgreen Pharma has enrolled 150 Parkinson’s Disease patients in a China Phase II trial of a novel adenosine A2A receptor antagonist.
  
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Deals and Financings

• Curon, a Shanghai biopharma, out-licensed global rights for a T-cell-engager bispecific antibody candidate to Merck for $1.3 billion including $700 million upfront;
• Taijin’s Tasly Pharma sold a 28% stake in itself to China Resources Sanjiu Medical & Pharmaceutical;
• Beijing Genor Biopharma granted a global license for its CD20/CD3 bispecific for autoimmune diseases to TRC 2004 in a $443 million-plus deal;
• Daiichi Sankyo entered a $170 million agreement to co-develop Merck’s MK-6070, an investigational delta-like ligand 3 (DLL3) targeting T-cell engager;
• Huadong Medicine (Hangzhou) entered a $153 million pact for China commercialization rights to Immunopharm’s IM19, a CAR T-cell immunotherapy for lymphoma;
• Tokyo’s Kyowa Kirin will refocus on advanced antibody technologies and hematopoietic stem cell gene therapies, selling its China operations for $105 million;
• WuXi Biologics partnered with Medigene AG, a Munich Biotech, to design T cell receptor-guided T Cell Engagers aimed at difficult-to-treat tumors;
• Sanyou Biopharma, a Shanghai CRMO, will collaborate with Guangdong JiAnTeBo Biotechnology to discover new antibody candidates;

Trials and  Approvals

• Suzhou T-Maximum Pharmaceutical reported that its universal CAR-T therapy was administered successfully to 50 adult patients with recurrent high-grade glioma;
• WestGene Biopharma said its mRNA therapeutic cancer vaccine, WGc-043, received dual IND approvals in China and the US.
  
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Deals and Financings

• Shanghai ImmuneOnco Biopharma out-licensed global rites (ex-China) for two of its antibodies to Instil Bio of Dallas, Texas for $2 billion;
• Shanghai announced it would invest US$14 billion to support the growth of companies in biopharmaceuticals, AI and integrated circuits;
• Japan’s Otsuka Pharmaceutical acquired Jnana Therapeutics, a Boston pharma with a rare disease candidate, for $800 million plus up to $325 million in milestones;
• Biocytogen Pharma (Beijing) has granted an option for its B7H3/PTK7 BsADC to Ideaya Biosciences in an agreement worth up to $406 million;
• Sirnaomics, a Suzhou-Maryland siRNA company, has formed a JV, Sagesse Bio, to develop its RNAi products as aesthetic medicines;
• LTZ Therapeutics, a Shenzhen-Redwood City, CA immunotherapy biotech, completed a Series A financing of over $20 million;
• Shenzhen Synthetica Pioneering closed a Series A round to develop novel living bacterial therapeutics;
• Suzhou Porton Advanced Solutions and Guangzhou Geneseed Biotech agreed to combine their circRNA gene therapy services for CDMO clients;

CRO/CDMO

• WuXi AppTec, a China CRDMO, announced “steady” earnings for the first half of 2024 despite the US Congress’s attempt to ban US biopharmas from doing business with WuXi;

Trials and Approvals

• Yantai Luye Pharma was approved for a US launch of Erzofri®, a once-monthly extended release drug for schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder.
  
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Deals and Financings

• Nanjing Triastek, a company that uses 3D printing to manufacture drugs, will develop oral RNA therapeutics with Germany’s BioNTech in a deal worth up to $1.2 billion;
• San Diego’s Artiva Bio, a spinout of South Korea’s GC Cell, raised $167 million in a NASDAQ IPO to support clinical trials of its cell therapy portfolio;
• Tokyo’s Renalys Pharma raised $38.5 million in a Series A round to develop its lead drug, sparsentan, as a treatment for IbA nephropathy;
• Hangzhou Jiuyuan Genetic Engineering has filed for an IPO on the Hong Kong Exchange to develop biopharmaceutical products and medical devices;
• Suzhou Innovent Biologics partnered with Beijing’s WeComput to advance its AI-based Innovent Academy platform for drug development;

Company News

• BeiGene opened an $800 million flagship facility near Princeton, NJ that houses state-of-the-art biologics manufacturing capabilities and a clinical R&D center;

Trials and approvals

• South Korea’s Samsung Bioepis announced that its Soliris biosimilar, Epysqli, is approved in the US for two rare diseases;
• Suzhou Innovent reported that mazdutide, its dual agonist for type 2 diabetes, showed effective weight-loss in a Phase III clinical trial;
• Gan & Lee Pharma posted impressive weight loss results in a China Phase IIb trial of its long-acting GLP-1 receptor agonist;
• Xiamen Amoytop Biotech will conduct a combination trial of its approved HBV therapy, Pegbing® with a clinical stage Aligos HBV therapy.
  
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