Innovent Biologics Inc.’s PCSK9 inhibitor, IBI-306, intended for the treatment of heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HeFH), has met its primary endpoint in a phase III study in Chinese patients.
Inmagene Biopharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. has licensed rights from Kissei Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. to develop and commercialize the spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk) inhibitor fostamatinib for all potential indications in China.
Preliminary real-world data showed that Chinese inactivated vaccines are 63% protective against the COVID-19 Delta variant, China’s top epidemiologist Zhong Nanshan said at the 24th Respiratory Disease Academic Conference of Guangdong Medical Association in Guangzhou.
Akeso Inc. became the fifth company to score an approval for a homegrown PD-1 antibody in China, with penpulimab cleared for relapsed or refractory (r/r) classic Hodgkin’s lymphoma (cHL).
Hutchmed Ltd. has struck a deal for Epizyme Inc.’s anticancer therapy Tazverik (tazemetostat) that could bring the latter up to $310 million. The agreement gives Hutchmed rights to research, develop, manufacture and commercialize Tazverik in greater China, which covers mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.
Jiangsu Gdk Biotechnology Co. Ltd. will further develop its vaccine pipeline after it started trading on the Shanghai Stock Exchange Star Market on Aug. 2, where it raised ¥1.21 billion ($187 million) through an initial public offering of 22 million shares. The company plans to use the proceeds from the listing to establish a manufacturing plant to produce its quadrivalent influenza vaccine and invest in R&D for other vaccine candidates, as well as replenish working capital and repay bank loans.
China’s National Health Commission has just released a new set of regulations to evaluate the clinical value of both approved drugs and those still in trials as part of its efforts to improve the market standards.
Zentera Therapeutics Inc. completed a $75 million series B financing round to help further its candidates in China, as it paves the way for a listing in Hong Kong next year.
Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine Co. Ltd. reported positive interim data from its phase III trial for SHR-3680, an androgen receptor antagonist, demonstrating that it reduced the risk of disease progression or death in metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer patients with high-volume disease burden.
China’s Center for Drug Evaluation has released the guideline on developing oncology drugs with a clinical value-oriented approach, part of its ongoing efforts to encourage the development of truly innovative oncology drugs in China.
