Artificial intelligence (AI) drug developer Insilico Medicine raised $110 million in a series E round led by an Asian private equity fund, Value Partners Group, that will see Insilico advance its pipeline and AI platform developments.
Alteogen Inc. signed its first billion-dollar partnership this year for ALT-B4 technology through two separate contracts with Astrazeneca plc’s U.K.- and U.S.-based Medimmune subsidiaries worth up to $1.35 billion combined.
Insilico Medicine founder and CEO Alex Zhavoronkov told BioWorld that he tries to spend as much time as possible in China, because that's where the artificial intelligence (AI) drug development company conducts synthesis and tests for early stage discovery. “And nowadays, not a day goes by without somebody launching an AI drug discovery company,” he said, noting that Chinese AI company Deepseek could be a huge disrupter.
Antibody-drug conjugate developer Duality Biotherapeutics Inc. is gearing up for a second IPO attempt this year, having filed on Feb. 27 a new prospectus on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Two other biotechs – Genuine Biotech Ltd. and Cloudbreak Pharma Inc. – also are having another go at a listing in Hong Kong in 2025.
Biocity Biopharmaceutics Co. Ltd.’s selective endothelin receptor type A antagonist, SC-0062, met the primary endpoint of reducing proteinuria in a phase II diabetic kidney disease cohort. Conducted at 40 sites across China, the 2-Succeed phase II trial is designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of SC-0062 in patients with chronic kidney disease with proteinuria.
After a second round, the U.S. FDA has accepted for review radiopharmaceutical company Telix Pharmaceuticals Ltd.’s BLA for its kidney cancer PET imaging agent, TLX250-CDx (Zircaix, 89Zr-DFO-girentuximab), granting it a priority review with a PDUFA date of Aug. 27, 2025.
Antibody-drug conjugate (ADC)-focused Callio Therapeutics debuted on March 3 with the closing of a $187 million series A financing round based on cancer drug technology and assets in-licensed from Hummingbird Bioscience Pte Ltd.
Guangdong Fapon Biopharma Inc. has obtained IND clearance from the FDA for FP-008, its first-in-class immunocytokine for patients with solid tumors refractory to anti-PD-1 therapy.
Several Asia biotechs this week – including Innocare Pharma Ltd., Akeso Pharmaceuticals Inc., Sanbio Co. Ltd. and Ascletis Pharma Inc. – unveiled the start of new late-stage clinical trials or interim findings from early stage studies.
Radiance Biopharma Inc. bought its way into the ROR1 antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) space through a potential $1 billion-plus licensing deal, including a $15 million up-front payment, with CSPC Megalith Biopharmaceutical Co. Ltd. for rights to RB-164 (SYS-6005) in the U.S. and select countries.
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