Acknowledging that the spread of the Andes virus and the resulting disease, hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, “constitutes a credible risk of a future public health emergency,” U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy is issuing a declaration to provide liability protection for manufacturers, distributors and providers using favipiravir as a medical countermeasure (MCM) against the virus.
Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. announced after South Korean market hours May 21 that it gained successive rights to Turn Biotechnologies Inc.’s mRNA-based cellular rejuvenation platform from Hanall Biopharma Co. Ltd.
New regulations tighten regulatory oversight of China’s investigator-initiated trials (IITs) but legitimize the pathway that will be open to other modalities beyond cell and gene therapies.
Artificial intelligence, remote monitoring and need-based innovation are beginning to reshape Australia’s medtech sector’s devices, as well as the way health care itself is delivered, according to speakers at the 2026 Ausmedtech conference in Perth May 19-20.
Antimicrobial-focused Tennor Therapeutics Ltd. will debut in Hong Kong May 22, having priced a HK$626.84 million (US$80 million) IPO. The Suzhou, China-based biotech is waiting on China’s National Medical Products Administration approval of lead asset rifasutenizol (TNP-2198), which has potential to become the first targeted combination regimen to treat H. pylori infection.
The recent multibillion-dollar licensing alliance between Bristol Myers Squibb Co. and Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd is not an outlier, but rather the clearest sign yet that China’s biotech industry has entered a new phase of global influence.
Vincentage Pharma Co. Ltd.’s once-daily oral small-molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist, VCT-220, met the primary endpoints in a pivotal phase III trial in overweight or obese patients in China. Based on the top-line data, the Chengdu, China-based company plans to submit an NDA for chronic weight management to China’s National Medical Products Administration.
Degron Therapeutics Inc. closed a $40 million series A extension round that will see the company advance its molecular glue degraders targeting previously undruggable or insufficiently drugged proteins.
Sonomind SAS raised €20 million (US$23 million) in a series A funding round for its ultrasound-based neuromodulation technology for depression. The funds will be used for clinical trials of the non-invasive device, which uses a custom-made acoustic lens to precisely target deep regions within the brain to bring relief to patients suffering from treatment-resistant depression.
Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co. Ltd. is paying $60 million up front for an option to secure exclusive rights to Aribio Co. Ltd.’s oral phase III-stage Alzheimer’s disease (AD) therapy, AR-1001. The option fee plus license agreement has potential to tally $4.7 billion for Aribio, marking the largest deal for an AD asset inked by a Korean biotech company.