Fresh off a deal with Travere Therapeutics Inc. for civorebrutinib worth more than $1.14 billion, Everest Medicines Ltd. went on a shopping spree, striking three deals in six days to expand its pipeline and geographic reach across Asia Pacific.

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.’s oral TYK2 inhibitor zasocitinib (TAK-279) demonstrated statistical superiority over Bristol Myers Squibb Co.’s first-in-class Sotyktu (deucravacitinib) in a top-line phase III Latitude Atlas readout of moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.

After raising HK$1.255 billion (US$160 million) in its IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange earlier this month, Longbio Pharma Co. Ltd.’s lead candidate, LP-003, met the primary endpoint of total nasal symptom scores during peak pollen season in moderate to severe seasonal allergic rhinitis.

Chinese biotech Longbio Pharma Co. Ltd. announced its IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to raise HK$1.362 billion (US$174 million) to progress its lead candidate, LP-003, a next-generation anti-IgE antibody.

Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. secured a $1.26 billion deal with Eli Lilly and Co. to out-license ex-Korea rights to sonefpeglutide (HM-15912), a Lapscovery-based glucagon-like peptide-2 analog in development for multiple indications, including an ongoing phase II study of short bowel syndrome. It was one of two billion-dollar Asian company deals signed by Lilly on June 1, with the second transaction involving Haisco Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd., of Beijing.

Degron Therapeutics Inc. closed a $40 million series A extension round that will see the company advance its molecular glue degraders targeting previously undruggable or insufficiently drugged proteins.

In a deal potentially worth up to $15.2 billion, Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. is joining efforts with Bristol Myers Squibb Co. to advance 13 early development programs in the fields of oncology, hematology and immunology. Shanghai-based Hengrui will hold exclusive rights in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau, while Princeton, N.J.-based BMS will hold exclusive rights in the rest of the world. The deal includes four oncology/hematology assets from Hengrui, four immunology assets from BMS, and five assets that the two companies will jointly discover and develop.

UCB SA agreed to pay $2 billion up front to acquire bispecific T-cell engager (TCE)-maker Candid Therapeutics Inc. and lead BCMA/CD3 TCE asset cizutamig (CND-106), continuing big pharma’s spree for China-made autoimmune assets in 2026.

South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) approved Curocell Inc.’s Rimqarto (anbalcabtagene-autoleucel; anbal-cel) April 29 as the first homegrown CAR T-cell therapy to treat patients with advanced diffuse large B-cell lymphomas.

Pilatus Bio Inc. is working to address a major under-addressed target of current checkpoint inhibitors: metabolic stress within solid tumors. “Traditional immunotherapies release immune ‘brakes,’ but they do not address the underlying metabolic stress in tumors,” Pilatus CEO and cofounder Raven Lin said. “That’s why more than 60% of solid tumor patients do not respond to treatment.”