South Korean biopharma Aribio Co. Ltd. signed a $770 million deal to sign off exclusive rights to its early Alzheimer’s disease drug, AR-1001 (mirodenafil), in China. The exclusive deal for marketing rights will total about ¥5.59 billion (US$770 million), which includes a non-refundable up-front payment of ₩120 billion (US$90 million) and potential milestone payments, along with royalties.
Kazia Therapeutics Ltd. has out-licensed paxalisib as a potential treatment for intractable epilepsy in focal cortical dysplasia type 2 and tuberous sclerosis complex disease in a carve-out deal with Sovargen Co. Ltd. for $20.5 million plus sales royalties.
As investment in Asia biohubs continues into 2024, Merck KGaA’s Milliporesigma is the latest to drop more than €300 million (US$328 million) into a new bioprocessing production center in Daejeon, South Korea.
Nuvation Bio Inc. said on March 25 it will acquire Anheart Therapeutics Ltd., a U.S.- and China-based precision oncology company, in an all-stock transaction, adding Anheart’s ROS1-inhibiting lung cancer drug, taletrectinib (AB-106), to its pipeline.
Chinese biotechs Biotheus Inc. and Hansoh Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd. partnered again under a new potential ¥5 billion (US$698.98 million) deal to develop bispecific antibody-drug conjugates (BsADCs), using Biotheus’ EGFR-cMet bispecific antibody.
Hyundai Bioscience Corp. is set to become the largest shareholder of ADM Korea Inc., a Seoul, South Korea-based contract research organization (CRO) firm, by purchasing 5.02 million shares for ₩20.4 billion (US$15.5 million) – a 23% stake.
In February, deals formed by biopharma firms reached $7.76 billion, down from January, which marked the sixth-highest month in BioWorld’s records going back to 2016. Meanwhile, biopharma M&As amounted to $18.22 billion for the month, positioning it among the top 10 highest-value months in the past four years.
Sosei Group Corp. is getting €25 million (US$27.3 million) up front in a global collaboration and option-to-license deal with Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH aimed at developing GPR52 agonists, a new target for schizophrenia designed to potentially address positive, negative and cognitive symptoms at the same time.
Yuhan Corp., of Seoul, South Korea, added a new potential cancer drug to its oncology pipeline, licensing a son of sevenless homolog 1 (SOS1) inhibitor co-developed by Cyrus Therapeutics Inc. and Kanaph Therapeutics Inc. for ₩208 billion (US$156.3 million).
Foreign investment in China’s biopharma sector is beginning to pick up after the hit of severe pandemic restrictions, and as Western governments look to revive trading relationships following a spate of diplomatic rows.
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