Taiwan’s biotechnology sector was built around domestic health needs, including vaccines and drug manufacturing, but it is increasingly looking outward – to international partnerships, licensing, clinical development and a bigger role in the global biomedical ecosystem.

Tidalsense Ltd. raised $19 million in a funding round for N-Tidal Diagnose, its AI-based diagnostic platform, which can identify chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in as little as five minutes. The test requires an individual to breathe normally into a handheld device for 75 seconds and it captures a carbon dioxide breath waveform, which is analyzed by AI to detect COPD. The funds will be used to support commercialization in the U.K., Ireland and Europe, on preparations for U.S. market entry and for expansion of the platform into additional respiratory conditions, including asthma.

Insmed Inc. has delivered further evidence of the advantages of its once-daily pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) drug TPIP (treprostinil palmitil inhalation powder), with data from an open-label extension of the phase IIb trial showing patients in the treated arm maintained the benefits over 24 months.

GSK plc’s walk-away from refractory chronic cough prospect camlipixant because of dicey phase III results opened the door wider for Trevi Therapeutics Inc. with Haduvio (oral nalbuphine ER), which yielded positive phase II data in June. Shares of Trevi (NASDAQ:TRVI) closed July 17 at $19.07, up $1.71, or 9.9%. London-based GSK reported findings with camlipixant, a P2X3 receptor antagonist, from the Calm-1 and Calm-2 trials. The first met its primary endpoint, with camlipixant 50 mg twice daily showing statistically significant reductions in 24-hour cough frequency vs. placebo when measured at week 12.

Astrazeneca plc has added a dual PDE3/4 inhibitor candidate to its chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) portfolio via a deal worth up to $2.1 billion with Chia Tai Tianqing Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd., a Sino Biopharmaceutical Ltd. subsidiary.

One company was looking to add to its royalty stream and R&D portfolio. The other was seeking strategic alternatives in the wake of clinical misfires over the last few years. In an agreement aimed at satisfying both goals, Zymeworks Inc. will acquire Theravance Biopharma Inc., paying $17 per share, or about $929 million, though the transaction is structured in a way that minimizes the former’s current capital position.

The outbreak of hantavirus infection first reported on the MV Hondius cruise ship on May 2 is all but over, with most isolating passengers, crew members and other contacts leaving quarantine over the past week, as the 42-day incubation period drew to an end.

Molecular subtyping of disease is typically associated with cancer. Now, researchers at the University of Cambridge are applying it to infections.

The industry is stepping up its campaign to persuade European governments to increase their drugs budgets, in what is described as a landmark report making the case that spending on patented drugs is not a cost to be contained, but an investment in health and the economy.

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.