Vessi Medical Ltd. has scooped up $1.7 million in series A funding to move forward with a first-in-human study of its minimally invasive bladder cancer device. The trial is set to launch in the first quarter of 2021. Leading the funding round are the Trendlines Group Ltd. and Agriline Ltd. The Trendlines Group already counts Misgav, Israel-based Vessi Medical as part of its portfolio of medical startups.

HONG KONG – Xuanzhu (Shijiazhuang) Biopharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Beijing-based Sihuan Pharmaceutical Holdings Group Ltd.’s innovative drug R&D platform, has secured ¥800 million (US$117.2 million) in series A funding from the State Development and Investment Corp. (SDIC).

PERTH, Australia – Australia’s biopharma sector fared better than the country at large at the end of the financial year that ended June 30, as the country saw GDP fall 7% in the final quarter, the largest drop since 1959.

Bright days are ahead for China’s biopharmaceutical sector, which is getting a reset from the efforts to tackle COVID-19 through innovation and advancements. “I'm consciously optimistic about the fact that cross-border deals will continue,” Stella Xu, managing director, Quan Capital, from Shanghai, China said during a panel discussion at the Chinabio Partnering Forum.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has brought disruptions to R&D, market activities in the biopharmaceutical sector have remained active during the first half of this year in China. Venture capital investments, IPOs and partnering activity showed upward trends, except for M&A activity, which has declined for two years.

Ever since the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) overhauled its listing rules to welcome pre-revenue biotech companies in April 2018, Hong Kong has become the largest biotech fundraising hub in Asia, and the second largest in the world after Nasdaq, HKEX executives said Tuesday at the bourse’s biotech summit. The biotech IPO pipeline continues to grow and pre-revenue companies are more accepted into the city’s financial system.