GW Pharmaceuticals plc, of Porton Down, UK, received commercial approval for lead cannabinoid product Sativex in Italy for moderate to severe spasticity in multiple sclerosis patients who have not responded adequately to other anti-spasticity medications...In other news, closed its initial public offering (IPO) of 3.5 million American depository shares (ADSs) at $8.90 per share...PM01183 is designed to bind covalently to the minor groove of DNA to induce a specific degradation in tumor cells of RNA

and Zendex Bio Strategy Inc., a Hong Kong private equity investor

ScinoPharm Taiwan Ltd., of Tainan, Taiwan, and Coland Holdings Ltd., of Hong Kong, formed a strategic alliance to develop a series of generic oncological drugs for mainland China

Eddingpharm, of Hong Kong, said it inked a joint venture (JV) agreement with Chiesi Farmaceutici SpA, of Parma, Italy, to establish Chiesi Edding Hong Kong Ltd

Eddingpharm, of Hong Kong, said it inked a joint venture (JV) agreement with Chiesi Farmaceutici SpA, of Parma, Italy, to establish Chiesi Edding Hong Kong Ltd

Eddingpharm, of Hong Kong, entered a collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK), of London, whereby Eddingpharm will acquire from GSK the exclusive right in mainland China to import, market, promote, distribute and sell Tykerb (lapitinib), a treatment for advanced or metastatic breast cancer that was recently approved by the China State Food and Drug Administration

Ascletis will fund and be responsible for the development, regulatory affairs and manufacturing of danoprevir in greater China, including Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau and receive milestone payments from Roche, which will also collaborate on the clinical development and commercialization

Eddingpharm, of Hong Kong, entered a collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK), of London, whereby Eddingpharm will acquire from GSK the exclusive right in mainland China to import, market, promote, distribute and sell Tykerb (lapitinib), a treatment for advanced or metastatic breast cancer that was recently approved by the China State Food and Drug Administration

Ltd., of Lianyungang, China, in which Hengrui will develop and commercialize an antibody program generated from X-BODY's antibody platform for age-related macular degeneration in Greater China, which includes mainland China, Taiwan, Macao and Hong Kong

for the exclusive development and commercialization rights in China, Taiwan, Macao and Hong Kong to anti-inflammatory candidate WBI-1001...In conjunction with Welichem's agreement with Stiefel, the GSK subsidiary received a conditional right to acquire future rights to develop and commercialize WBI-1001 in China, Taiwan, Macao and Hong Kong for an additional C$15 million payment to Welichem

To date, 150 patients out of a total of 200 patients have already been recruited in 16 centers in Germany, Austria and Israel...The goal is to modulate the half-life of the therapy to increase efficacy of treatment...The company intends to start clinical trials in the third quarter

Jennerex Inc., of San Francisco, and Lee's Pharmaceutical Holdings, of Hong Kong, expanded their existing development and commercialization partnership for Pexa-Vec (JX-594) in China

in Hong Kong, to consider and vote on a proposal to authorize and approve a merger of ShangPharma Holdings Ltd., ShangPharma Parent Ltd

Dyax Corp., of Burlington, Mass., and CVie Therapeutics, of Hong Kong, a subsidiary of Lee's Pharmaceutical Holdings Ltd., entered a deal to develop and commercialize Dyax's Kalbitor (ecallantide) for hereditary angioedema and other angioedema indications in China, Hong Kong and Macau

Ltd., of South Korea, so that, upon successful completion of the merger, the combined firm will re-acquire full rights to voclosporin for autoimmune indications including lupus, and transplantation in the U.S., Europe and other regions of the world outside of Canada, Israel, South Africa, China, Taiwan and Hong Kong

Portola Pharmaceuticals Inc., of South San Francisco, and Lee's Pharmaceutical Ltd., of Hong Kong, will jointly expand the Phase III APEX trial of betrixaban into China

to test AXL1717, an oral small-molecule insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor inhibitor, in patients with malignant astrocytomas, a type of brain tumor...In other news, Novartis said the FDA approved a new use of Gleevec (imatinib) to treat children newly diagnosed with Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Sihuan Pharmaceutical Holdings Group Ltd., of Hong Kong, signed a collaboration agreement with NeuroVive Pharmaceutical AB, of Lund, Sweden, to develop CicloMulsion and NeuroSTAT for the treatment of heart reperfusion injuries and traumatic brain injuries, respectively

In other news, 3SBio said its special committee of independent directors has retained Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, of New York, as the committee's legal counsel...In other news, Boehringer said it started an open-label U.S...The objectives are to decrease or stabilize the number of blood-circulating CLL cells and to delay the onset of other signs of progression, such as swelling of lymph nodes, which then requires immunochemotherapy treatment