In an unusual move for a Chinese company, Bio-Thera Solutions Ltd. terminated the clinical development of its Trop2 antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), BAT-8003, and its PD-1 monoclonal antibody, BAT-1306, a month after it halted the phase III-stage HER2-ADC candidate BAT-8001.
HONG KONG – Lianbio Co. Ltd. has inked a deal for the development and commercialization of Reviral Ltd.’s sisunatovir, picking up rights to the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) candidate in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Singapore in exchange for an up-front cash payment of $14 million and development and commercial milestone payments of up to $105 million.
China’s National Medical Products Administration granted conditional approval two Chinese-developed COVID-19 vaccines in less than 24 hours on Feb. 25. One of the vaccines approved was developed by Tianjin-based Cansino Biologics Inc., and the other by China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) through its Wuhan Institute of Biological Products subsidiary.
Eight months after Beijing-based Yisheng Biopharma Co. Ltd. unveiled its recombinant protein vaccine candidate for COVID-19, YS-SC2-010, the company raised $130 million in a series B round to pave way for the vaccine to enter clinical trials in the second quarter of this year, the company’s CEO David Shao told BioWorld.
HONG KONG – Beijing-based Beigene Ltd. struck its second deal outside China this year, signing an option and license agreement with Boston Immune Technologies & Therapeutics Inc. (BITT) for the latter’s tumor necrosis factor receptor 2 (TNFR2) antagonist antibodies.
HONG KONG – China is steadily greenlighting more COVID-19 vaccines and drugs to go deeper into the clinic, giving the country a growing arsenal against the disease. To date, China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) has approved a handful of drugs and 16 domestically developed COVID-19 vaccine candidates for trials, up from 11 in September 2020.
Chinese cancer and autoimmune specialist Innocare Pharma Ltd. raised HK$3.04 billion ($392 million) in private placements with two Hillhouse Capital subsidiaries and Vivo Opportunity Fund to advance its pipeline, especially its core asset, the BTK inhibitor orelabrutinib.
HONG KONG – Sinovac Biotech Ltd.’s COVID-19 vaccine, Coronavac, received conditional approval for use by the general public from China’s National Medical Productions Administration (NMPA), two days after filing for conditional market authorization.
CAJICA, Colombia – China’s Anticancer Bioscience, a company focused on developing precision oncology medicines, has raised ¥66 million (US$10.2 million) to expand its small-molecule and natural product screening libraries and move two programs into IND-enabling studies.
HONG KONG – Xuanzhu Biopharmaceutical Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of Beijing-based Sihuan Pharmaceutical Holdings Group Ltd., has acquired antibody technology firm Beijing Combio Pharmaceutical for an undisclosed amount.