Shanghai-based Ji Xing Pharmaceuticals has signed a number of licensing deals over the last week for China rights to cardiovascular drugs to advance its pipeline and its global ambitions, partnering most recently with Tokyo-based TMS Co. Ltd. after the Chinese company acquired global rights for TMS-007 (also known as BIIB-131) from Biogen Inc.
Boston-based Praxis Precision Medicines Inc.’s shares rose nearly 25% on Jan. 8 after it announced a pipeline update and licensing deal for its tremor drug, ulixacaltamide (PRAX-944), with Shanghai’s Tenacia Biotechnology Co. Ltd.
Innovent Biologics Inc. said its glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor and glucagon receptor dual agonist, mazdutide, met the primary endpoints and all key secondary endpoints in its first phase III trial in Chinese adults who were overweight or obese. The company plans to submit the first mazdutide NDA for weight management to China's NMPA shortly.
Three months out from its first $1 billion deal with Biontech SE for an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), Suzhou, China-based Medilink Therapeutics Co. Ltd. clinched another potential $1 billion ADC deal, but this time with Roche Holding AG.
Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH’s start to the new year includes two fresh deals across two continents. BI struck one deal with Kunshan, China-based Suzhou Ribo Life Science Co. Ltd. and its Mölndal, Sweden-based subsidiary, Ribocure Pharmaceuticals AB, to develop small interfering RNA (siRNA) treatments for nonalcoholic or metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis. It struck a second deal with San Francisco-based 3T Biosciences Inc. to develop cancer immunotherapies, which builds on an earlier collaboration formed last year. Combined, the two deals are worth more than $2.5 billion.
Announcing two licensing deals with Swiss pharma giant Novartis AG, Shanghai-based Argo Biopharmaceutical Co. Ltd. said on Jan. 7 that it stands to gain up to $4.165 billion for two of its cardiovascular assets combined. Marking the “first significant overseas out-licensing transaction in the RNAi field from a Chinese biotech company,” the deal includes an up-front payment of $185 million from Novartis to Argo.
Sciwind Biosciences Co. Ltd.’s injectable glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analog, ecnoglutide (XW-003), achieved positive top-line results in a phase III trial in Chinese adults with type 2 diabetes. A long-acting, cAMP signaling biased GLP-1 analog, ecnoglutide is being developed for treating type 2 diabetes and obesity. GLP-1 receptor agonists are increasingly gaining attention in the obesity therapy area.
Lianbio Co. Ltd. is out-licensing NBTXR-3 to Janssen Pharmaceutical NV to develop and commercialize the radioenhancer in China, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand. Earlier this month, Tang Capital’s Concentra Biosciences LLC lodged a proposal to acquire Lianbio for $465 million, which the company’s shareholders rejected.
The spate of recent deals involving antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) continues in a field composed of record-breaking agreements in 2023. The newest of the deals were focused on Asia. GSK plc entered a license deal for the exclusive rights for clinical development and commercialization of Hansoh Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.’s B7-H3-targeted ADC, HS-20093. Also, South Korea’s Dong-A ST Co. Ltd. is expanding into the ADC space by acquiring Abtis Co. Ltd. and its Abclick platform for ADC drug development.
If the COVID-19 pandemic shocked countries to build self-reliance in biomedical ecosystems, the re-opening of borders in 2023 kickstarted international collaborations to grow major biohubs in Asia. Countries in the Asia Pacific region – including Singapore, China, Japan, Korea and Australia – increasingly drew overseas investors and collaborators, helping each country grow national biotech capabilities and expertise.
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