HONG KONG – Splisense Ltd. has closed a $28.5 million series B financing that it said will support pipeline development including its lead antisense oligonucleotide candidate, SPL84-23, for the potential treatment of cystic fibrosis. The Jerusalem-based company, which develops mRNA-altering therapies for CF and other genetic pulmonary diseases, attracted support for the round from Orbimed, Israel Biotech Fund, Biotel Ltd. and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

An evolving COVID-19 treatment paradigm may have foiled Mesoblast Ltd.’s phase III with remestemcel-L in ventilator-dependent patients with moderate to severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), CEO Silviu Itescu said, but hope remains in pediatric steroid-refractory acute graft-vs.-host disease (GVHD).

HONG KONG – Taiho Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. has signed an exclusive license agreement with Lung Therapeutics Inc., picking up the Japanese rights to Lung Tx’s LTI-01.

PERTH, Australia – Mesoblast Ltd. inked an exclusive global licensing deal with Novartis AG for the development, manufacture and commercialization of Mesoblast’s mesenchymal stromal cell product remestemcel-L, with an initial focus on the acute respiratory distress syndrome, including that associated with COVID-19, just six weeks after the FDA issued a complete response letter for the therapy as a treatment for steroid-refractory acute graft-versus-host disease.

PERTH, Australia – With the approval of cystic fibrosis treatment Bronchitol (mannitol), Sydney-based Pharmaxis Ltd. joins a small group of elite Australian biotech companies to take their drugs all the way to FDA approval.

PERTH, Australia – Melbourne, Australia-based Dimerix Ltd. saw its shares gain 66% on the news that its lead candidate, DMX-200, has been chosen to enter the global REMAP-CAP platform trial as a potential treatment  for COVID-19-related acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).

BEIJING – Med-tech firm Shanghai Asclepius Meditec Co. Ltd. says it has developed a hydrogen-oxygen nebulizer that can help relieve the shortage of ventilators.

PERTH, Australia – Mesoblast Ltd. plans to evaluate remestemcel-L in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome caused by coronavirus (COVID-19) in the U.S., Australia, China and Europe.

DUBLIN – Could a recombinant human protein drug rejected by Glaxosmithkline plc in 2019 benefit patients with COVID-19 infection? Apeiron Biologics AG disclosed Wednesday Feb. 26 that an investigator-initiated pilot study of APN-01 is getting underway in Guangzhou, China.