BEIJING – Shenzhen-listed Chinese firm Nanjing Hicin Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. has in-licensed an isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) inhibitor known as I111b from Italian oncology specialist Nerviano Medical Sciences Srl (NMS) to develop and commercialize the drug globally for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

Information technology and connectivity have transformed productivity and costs in nearly every industry. Health care, however, has remained persistently immune to this transmogrification. Electronic health records (EHRs) have been particularly disappointing on this front, with time-consuming and inconsistent physician data entry as well as poor integration across complex and emerging data sources from medical devices, imaging, genomics and wearables and, as a consequence, a lack of usefulness in improving population health analytics or personalized care.

Aveo Oncology Inc. and Kyowa Kirin Co. Ltd. amended their 2006 license agreement so that Kyowa Kirin can buy back the non-oncology rights of tivozanib in Aveo territories, including the U.S. and the EU, while Aveo retains U.S. rights in cancer.

LONDON – It's the technology that keeps on giving, and the Heptares unit of Sosei Group Corp. has attracted a further partner to its G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) platform, signing up Takeda Pharmaceutical Ltd., in a deal worth up to $1.2 billion.

HONG KONG – Daejeon, South Korea-based Alteogen Inc. said that it has signed a licensing agreement with Brazil's Cristália Produtos Químicos Farmacêuticos Ltd. to jointly develop and commercialize Alteogen's ALT-P1, a persistent growth hormone for children.

Calling the tie "magic," Pfizer Inc. CEO Albert Bourla defended his firm's decision to spin off its Upjohn unit and merge in an all-stock deal with Mylan N.V., creating a new entity to be named later with pro forma revenues as high as $20 billion. "We have a commercial footprint that is very much focused on China, on emerging markets," he said, which will help Mylan.

Shares of Lexicon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:LXRX) fell 70.3% Monday to $1.69 as Sanofi SA terminated a $1.7 billion diabetes collaboration with the company. The decision followed two trials in which Zynquista (sotagliflozin), a dual SGLT inhibitor, failed to make a statistically significant dent in blood sugar control in patients with chronic kidney disease, a common result of diabetes.

DUBLIN – Zambon SpA is acquiring Breath Therapeutics BV for €140 million (US$155.8 million) up front plus up to €360 million more in regulatory and commercial milestones linked to the progress of Breath's drug-device combo, which is currently in phase III development for bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS), a fatal form of airway inflammation that can arise in lung transplant recipients.

Durect Corp. (NASDAQ: DRXX) got a solid bump after announcing it granted Gilead Sciences Inc. exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialize a long-acting injectable HIV product created with Durect's platform, Saber, in a deal that could generate more than $300 million for Durect.

LONDON – Silence Therapeutics plc has finally secured a deal to transform its fortunes, signing up Mallinckrodt plc in a potential $693 million-per-asset collaboration to develop siRNA therapeutics that block the complement inflammatory cascade.