Beijing’s policy of favoring domestic medical technology is a matter of record, but the European Commission apparently heard enough from EU med tech firms to take action. The Commission posted notice that it may take steps to retaliate by restricting bids from China for EU government contracts in retaliation, a move certain to draw cheers from European device makers.
In a deal potentially worth $810 million for Regenxbio Inc., Nippon Shinyaku Co. Ltd. is partnering on the U.S. and Asian development and commercialization of iduronate-2-sulfatase enzyme RGX-121 for Hunter syndrome and RGX-111 for Hurler syndrome.
Insilico Medicine Inc. nabbed a potential $550 million-plus deal with Menarini Group’s Stemline Therapeutics Inc. for an unnamed preclinical small-molecule drug targeting solid tumors, adding to a $500 million deal inked by the duo in January 2024.
Mountainfield Venture Partners and Chengdu, China-based Keymed Biosciences Co. Ltd have partnered to form San Diego-based Timberlyne Therapeutics, which will progress Keymed’s CD-38 monoclonal antibody globally excluding China.
Abbvie Inc. and Simcere Zaiming Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. are part of the volley of large deals accompanying the opening of the 43rd annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. The two have agreed to develop SIM-0500, a humanized GPRC5D-BCMA-CD3 trispecific antibody, which is in phase I studies in the U.S. and China to treat refractory multiple myeloma.
Brainaurora Medical Technology Ltd. debuted on the Hong Kong stock exchange Jan. 8 with a HK$583.18 million (US$74.93 million) IPO, offering about 181.11 million shares at HK$3.22 per share.
Women with endometriosis may soon be able to have a simple blood test to diagnose their disease thanks to a breakthrough by Proteomics International Ltd. that has developed a plasma protein biomarker panel that identifies all stages of endometriosis.
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.
Wuxi Biologics Co. Ltd. is licensing a preclinical trispecific T-cell engager to Candid Therapeutics Inc. in a deal worth up to $925 million plus royalties.
Yuhan Corp., Oscotec Inc. and Genosco Inc. were three companies with Asian ties to reap benefit from Johnson & Johnson’s stellar top-line Mariposa study results, wherein J&J’s Rybrevant (amivantamab-vmjw) and Lazcluze (lazertinib) combo regimen beat out Astrazeneca plc’s standard of care in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).