HONG KONG – Even with vaccine administration just around the corner, Indonesian President Joko Widodo has warned his ministers to not rush the launch of COVID-19 vaccines over mounting public concerns about whether those vaccines would be certified halal, or permissible under Islamic law.

Chinese biotech startup Affamed Therapeutics Ltd., funded by CBC Group, has merged with biopharmaceutical company Everinsight Therapeutics Inc., five days after it licensed in a dopamine agonist, KDT-3594, for Parkinson's disease from Japan’s Kissei Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.

HONG KONG – Yongin, South Korea-based Rznomics Inc. is on track to develop adenoviruses for gene therapies, after signing a clinical and commercial agreement with Cologne, Germany based-Cevec Pharmaceuticals GmbH. The partnership will use the German company’s Cap technology to manufacture the adenoviruses, while the therapies, targeting various cancer indications, will be developed using Rznomics’ trans-splicing ribozyme technology.

HONG KONG – South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) has approved an additional indication for CT-P59, Incheon-based Celltrion Inc.’s anti-COVID-19 monoclonal antibody.

PERTH, Australia – Astrazeneca plc is leasing 175 Sozo devices from Impedimed Ltd. and plans to put them in 20 countries to run phase II trials for a combination drug that looks at fluid imbalance in the human body in patients with heart failure (HF) and chronic kidney disease.

BEIJING – Three-year-old startup Everest Medicines Ltd. (1952.HK) sold 63 million shares at HK$55 apiece to raise HK$3.49 billion (US$451 million) on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Oct 9. Shares were oversubscribed by 654 times in Hong Kong.