Ribomic’s umedaptanib pegol (RBM-007) looks to have some advantages compared to competitors in the achondroplasia space, and the company plans to progress the oligonucleotide-based aptamer that targets anti fibroblast growth factor 2 to phase III trials, Ribomic’s business development head, Kihei Yamashita, told BioWorld.

The frontiers of xenotransplantation have been further extended with a pig-to-human lung transplant, the first time an organ that is directly exposed to the external environment – with the associated risk of respiratory pathogens – has been transplanted. The genetically modified pig lung remained viable and functional for nine days, after it was transplanted into a 39-year-old man who was declared brain dead following a hemorrhagic stroke.

South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) launched a new industry-academia-research consortium to support the nation’s organoid industry, expected to grow in light of the U.S. FDA’s shift away from animal testing in the development of novel drugs.

Singapore-based Immortal Dragons has launched with $40 million under management, mostly from its founder Boyang Wang, with a focus on investing in early stage companies developing treatments to extend life.

CSL Ltd.’s stock tumbled 16.88% on the news that it plans to cut 3,000 jobs and to hive off its Seqirus vaccine unit in a cost-cutting measure to save more than $500 million per year over the next three years.

“Our mission is to apply our protein-protein interaction (PPI) big data-generation platform to create novel antibody therapeutics,” Proteina Co. Ltd. CEO Yoon Tae-young recently told BioWorld. “We have been working to build a proprietary technology platform for more than 15 years,” Yoon said, “and we take pride in the fact that we made our own technology platform, instead of running a company based on licensed-in technology.”

Aussie gene therapy company Mirugen Pty Ltd. has emerged from stealth mode from the Center for Eye Research Australia in Melbourne, toting a AU$4.5 million (US$2.9 million) seed round that will see it optimize its lead candidate to treat retinitis pigmentosa.