Samsung Bioepis Co. Ltd. announced Oct. 21 the signing of a license deal to codevelop, manufacture and commercialize two of Phrontline Biopharma Suzhou Co. Ltd.’s novel bispecific dual-payload antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) candidates.

Dianthus Therapeutics Inc. has joined the recent trend of companies licensing therapies in development from China. The company will pay as much as $1 billion to Nanjing Leads Biolabs Co. Ltd. for DNTH-212, a bifunctional BDCA2 and BAFF/APRIL inhibitor to treat autoimmune disorders. The payment comprises $30 million up front and some near-term milestones, plus an $8 million milestone for getting a phase I study underway. Leads Biolabs is in line to bring in another $962 million in milestones and royalties.

Japan’s investor community is ramping up both inbound and outbound investment to create a cross-border fertile hub of innovation in Japan, investors said during a panel discussion at Bio Japan 2025 held in Yokohama Oct. 8 to 10.

Bio Japan 2025 was abuzz with the news that Japan has once again snagged the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, with Shimon Sakaguchi winning for his discovery of a subtype of CD4-expressing T cells that affect the immune response. Earlier today, Susumu Kitagawa snatched the second Nobel Prize for Japan, this time in chemistry. Both Nobel Prize winners were professors at Kyoto University.

In a deal that could top $2 billion, China-based Innocare Pharma Ltd. licensed the exclusive worldwide development and commercialization rights to the BTK inhibitor orelabrutinib to Zenas Biopharma Inc. for multiple sclerosis and other indications aside from oncology.

Astellas Pharma Inc. reported Oct. 14 that its CLDN18.2-targeting monoclonal antibody, zolbetuximab (Vyloy), did not meet the primary endpoint of overall survival in the phase II Gleam trial of patients with advanced pancreatic cancer.

Taho Pharmaceuticals Ltd. announced an NDA submission to the U.S. FDA for TAH-3311, developed as the world’s first oral dissolving film formulation of apixaban, marking a regulatory milestone for the Taipei-based biotech.

Full-Life Technologies Ltd. announced Sept. 29 the completion of a $77 million financing, comprising $50 million in series C equity and $27 million in debt financing, which will be used to advance a portfolio of radiopharmaceuticals and radionuclide-drug conjugates worldwide.

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. is exiting all work in cell therapies and will seek an external partner to advance the company’s research and clinic-ready cell therapy programs, the company said, noting that it is not currently running any clinical trials using cell therapy technology.

Kyorin Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. is licensing Hinge Bio Inc.’s multispecific antibody-based therapy HB-2198 in Japan for multiple autoimmune indications, starting with systemic lupus erythematosus.