Legochem Biosciences Inc. has licensed out its antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) LCB-14 to Iksuda Therapeutics Ltd. in the duo’s latest deal that is worth $1 billion. Daejeon, South Korea-based Legochem will receive $50 million in an up-front payment and near-term milestones, and up to $950 million in developments, regulatory and commercial milestones.
Obi Pharma Inc. has acquired global rights to BSI-04702, an anti-trophoblast antigen 2 (Trop2) humanized monoclonal antibody (MAb), from Biosion Inc. Obi is granted exclusive rights for further preclinical and clinical development, registration and commercialization of the candidate as an antibody-drug conjugate and other derivative products.
Everest Medicines Ltd. and Providence Therapeutics Holdings Inc.’s COVID-19 vaccine was cleared for inclusion in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Solidarity Trial Vaccines clinical trial.
Canbridge Pharmaceuticals Inc. has raised HK$604 million ($77.4 million) with a listing on the Hong Kong stock exchange, selling about 56.3 million shares (1228.HK) at HK$12.18 per share. The shares fell to HK$8.90 at the close of trading Dec. 10. Almost half the funds will support advancement of Canbridge’s lead candidate, CAN-008, a glycosylated CD95-Fc fusion protein in phase II testing for glioblastoma, while another quarter will support other major pipeline programs.
Avistone Biotechnology Co. Ltd. raised more than $200 million to support its oncology drug development and the acquisition Pearl Biotechnology Co. Ltd. with the aim of creating a “fully-integrated” targeted oncology platform. Vivo Capital LLC led the financing, with participation from Bain Capital LP. and Primavera Capital Group.
Alphamab Oncology Co. Ltd. has won conditional marketing approval from China’s NMPA for KN-035 (envafolimab), the world’s first PD-1/PD-L1 antibody to be administered by subcutaneous injection. The drug was cleared for use in treating adult patients with advanced solid tumors who have unresectable or metastatic advanced microsatellite instability-high phenotype/mismatch-repair deficiency. That includes patients with advanced colorectal cancer who have experienced disease progression after previous therapy with fluorouracil, oxaliplatin and irinotecan.
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) has agreed to provide Clover Biopharmaceuticals Ltd. with an additional $36.9 million to support development of SCB-2019, a recombinant trimeric Spike-protein subunit COVID-19 vaccine.
Top-line results of Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd.’s phase III Quantum-First study, testing the addition of quizartinib to chemotherapy vs. chemotherapy alone for adults with newly diagnosed FLT3-ITD positive acute myeloid leukemia (AML), found the combination therapy provided a “statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement” in overall survival vs. standard treatment alone, meeting the trial’s primary endpoint, Ken Takeshita, global head of R&D at Daiichi Sankyo, told BioWorld.
Voronoi Inc. licensed global rights to its monopolar spindle1 (MPS1) inhibitor, VRN-08, and a second undisclosed asset to Pyramid Biosciences Inc. in a deal worth up $846 million that preserves Voronoi’s rights to both assets in South Korea.
Ono Pharma Korea Co. Ltd. has received approval in South Korea for Velexbru (tirabrutinib hydrochloride), its oral Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor, as treatment of recurrent or refractory B-cell primary central nervous system lymphoma.