Ligachem Biosciences Inc., of Daejeon, South Korea, and Osaka, Japan-based Ono Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. agreed to two antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) deals that could reach $700 million (₩943.5 billion) combined.
SK Bioscience Co. Ltd., of Seongnam-si, South Korea, said Oct. 8 that it will acquire a $3 million stake in Fina Biosolutions LLC to become the first and sole strategic investor of the Rockville, Md.-based vaccine specialist. For SK Bioscience, the investment is slated to boost its vaccine R&D capabilities, the company said, which currently includes manufacturing of pneumococcal and typhoid conjugate vaccines.
The Japanese government is throwing full weight behind the Bioeconomy Strategy initiative to position Japan’s biopharmaceutical industry as both a key driver of economic growth and global drug discovery hub.
The U.S. FDA gave the 510(k) green light to Echo IQ Ltd.’s Echosolv AS for its AI-enabled software as a medical device to be used as a decision support aid in detecting severe aortic stenosis.
Immunotherapy company Cartherics Pty Ltd. raised AU$15 million (US$10.3 million) in an oversubscribed series B round that will support the first clinical trial for lead chimeric antigen receptor natural killer therapy CTH-401 for ovarian cancer, and to expand its pipeline to include other diseases.
Flagship Pioneering and Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) are jointly committing up to SGD100 million (US$77.12 million) over the next five years to drive inter-party R&D collaboration and biotech creation in Singapore.
Taiwan’s Caliway Biopharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. raised NT$6.4 billion (US$206 million) in its IPO on the Taipei Stock Exchange, making it the largest IPO in Taiwan’s biotech industry history and valuing the company at nearly $3 billion following the listing.
Aviadobio Ltd. has entered a potential $2.18 billion license and commercialization agreement for its frontotemporal dementia gene therapy, AVB-101, with Astellas Pharma Inc. Astellas is making a $20 million equity investment in London-based Aviadobio and will pay up to $30 million up front in advance of deciding whether or not to exercise the exclusive option to worldwide rights.
Wuhan YZY Biopharma Co. Ltd. is out-licensing lead candidate M-701, a CD3/EpCAM bispecific antibody, to Chia Tai Tianqing Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd. (CTTQ) for China rights in a deal worth up to $143 million. Under the deal, Sino Biopharmaceutical Ltd. subsidiary CTTQ is granted an exclusive license to develop, register, manufacture and commercialize M-701 within mainland China.
Danish pharma giant Novo Nordisk A/S is set to launch its blockbuster glucagon-like peptide-1 therapy, Wegovy (semaglutide), in South Korea’s growing obesity therapeutics market next week, a company official confirmed to BioWorld.
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