BEIJING – China will kickstart a phase III trial Feb. 3 to determine whether patients with 2019-nCoV can be treated with Gilead Sciences Inc.’s NUC inhibitor, remdesivir, which was originally developed for Ebola, four days after a U.S. patient was said to have recovered by using the drug candidate.
HONG KONG and BEIJING – Not just multinational players but domestic Chinese pharmaceutical companies are poised to benefit from China’s promise under a phase one trade deal with the U.S. to better protect intellectual property (IP), even if question marks remain around how the deal will be enforced. The move is in line with China's ambition to strengthen IP rights protection and upgrade the approach to innovation of its pharmaceutical and biotech industries.
LONDON – After a second day of deliberation, the World Health Organization (WHO) held off declaring that the novel coronavirus infection raging in Wuhan is an international health emergency, saying the low number of cases outside China means it is not time to escalate the response to this level.
Time will tell whether what the Trump administration is calling a “historic” and “landmark” trade agreement with China will better enable drug and device companies to more fairly compete in the Chinese market without having to sacrifice their intellectual property (IP) and technology.
China announced Jan. 17 which further pharmaceutical companies it will buy from under its centralized procurement program that seeks the lowest prices. The price war has forced foreign players to revalue the Chinese market and prompted Chinese players to come up with survival strategies under a policy that aims to consolidate the industry.
SAN FRANCISCO – Pacing the stage at this year's China Showcase Saturday, Chinabio CEO Greg Scott sounded a touch disappointed. Last year lacked the kind of record-breaking stats he likes to punctuate with iconic explosions, a common image in his widely valued China health care talks. "Simply stated, business is continuing as normal," he said.
China-based Innovent Biologics Inc. will need to get on two new tasks this year: Preparing for the first clinical trial for an anti-TIGIT antibody in China and investigating the combination therapy of its Tyvyt (sintilimab) and Sirnaomics Inc.’s STP-705.
BEIJING – Chinese scientist He Jiankui has been sentenced to three years in prison and fined ¥3 million (US$429,421) for illegally carrying out the human embryo gene editing that led to the birth of twin girls and another baby with heritable changes to their genomes.
BEIJING – China is aggressively pushing its goal to make drugs more affordable, and foreign pharma giants are adjusting their pricing strategy for a market that comprises nearly 20% of the world’s population and is expected to continue growing. To achieve its goals, China is using its huge population, which stands at 1.43 billion, as a bargaining chip to negotiate prices with pharmaceutical companies.