HONG KONG – Technology took the front seat for a second day, at the 2020 KoNECT-MOHW-MFDS International Conference, with a discussion about the South Korean medical devices landscape attracting both criticism and praise.

PERTH, Australia – Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) said industry stakeholders supported making in vitro diagnostic (IVD) self-tests available for infectious diseases like influenza but self-tests for cancer and genetic testing for health-related purposes should continue to be prohibited from supply.

As biopharma deal values continue to rise above recent years, a growing percentage of the funds are coming through partnerships with companies headquartered in Asia and nearby countries. The $48.5 billion reported so far in 2020, for deals in which at least one party is based in either Asia, Australia or New Zealand, represents 37% of the global deal value.

HONG KONG – Singapore-based Genesis Medtech International Pte. Ltd. has acquired the Chocolate Touch drug-coated balloon angioplasty asset from Pleasanton, Calif.-based Trireme Medical LLC. The drug-device technology asset in question is designed with the intention of providing a safer and more effective treatment for patients suffering from peripheral vascular disease, compared to traditional balloon angioplasty.

DUBLIN – Spybiotech Ltd. has secured a first vaccine deal for its proprietary Spytag/Spycatcher protein conjugation technology. The Serum Institute of India Pvt. Co. Ltd. (SIIPL) is employing the technology in a COVID-19 virus-like-particle (VLP)-based vaccine, which recently entered a phase I/II trial in Australia. An initial data readout is expected in October or November.

HONG KONG – Tokyo-based Cureapp Inc. has received the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW)’s green light to manufacture and sell Cureapp SC [Smoking Cessation] Nicotine Addiction Treatment App and CO Checker, its therapeutics app to aid patients who are quitting smoking.

An Australian study led by University of Melbourne scientists has identified a previously unknown role for the hepatokine, sparc-related modular calcium-binding protein 1 (SMOC1), in suppressing hepatic glucose production. The investigators reported their results in the Sept. 2, 2020, edition of Science Translational Medicine.