South Korea’s government continued to ramp up investment in its pharmaceutical and med-tech sector in 2025, including a 7.2% hike for the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s budget and a near 15% increase in funding to research and develop innovative biotechnologies.

After raising AU$16.75 million (US$10.4 million) in a series A round, Celosia Therapeutics Pty Ltd. is heading toward the clinic with its novel gene therapy that targets TDP-43, a protein directly linked to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) pathology.

Roche Holding AG kicked off the new year (again) with a potential $1 billion deal, including $80 million up front, for exclusive rights to Innovent Biologics Inc.’s IBI-3009, a DLL3-targeting antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) candidate that recently entered a phase I study.

China’s health regulator gave conditional approval to Platinum Life Excellence Biotech Co. Ltd.’s amimestrocel injection (hUC-MSC PLEB-001, Ruibosheng) as the nation’s first human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cell therapy to treat steroid-refractory acute graft-vs.-host disease on Jan. 2, 2025.

Kaken Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.’s license agreement with Johnson & Johnson (J&J) for signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT)6 inhibitor KP-723 could presage further deals in STAT6, where a number of developers are active. Kaken’s arrangement with J&J involves the global development, manufacturing and sale of KP-723, which has reached the preclinical stage. Tokyo-based Kaken will take the drug through phase I trials, after which J&J takes over.

In a deal worth up to $1 billion, Ideaya Biosciences Inc. is in-licensing Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd.’s SHR-4849, a phase I DLL3-targeting opo-I-payload antibody-drug conjugate (ADC). Under terms of the deal, San Francisco-based Ideaya will develop and commercialize SHR-4849 worldwide outside of greater China, and Shanghai-based Hengrui is eligible to receive up to $1.04 billion that includes a $75 million up-front fee, $200 million in development and regulatory milestone payments, and commercial success-based milestone payments. Hengrui is also eligible to receive royalties on net sales outside of greater China.

From local drug discovery to global innovation, economic uncertainty is taking a toll on China’s innovative biotech system, forcing local companies to weather unpredictable storms, investors said during the Chinabio Partnering Forum in Shanghai in September.

Ausperbio Therapeutics Inc. raised $110 million from two financing rounds in 2024 to advance its lead antisense oligonucleotide candidate as a functional cure for chronic hepatitis B.