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.

HONG KONG – The third pre-revenue med-tech firm to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in a month, New Horizon Health Technology Co. Ltd. raised HK$1.9 billion (US$245.08 million) in an IPO that began trading Thursday, Feb. 18. New Horizon placed 76.6 million shares at HK$26.66 apiece and said part of the funds will help the company commercialize its FIT-DNA test Coloclear to screen for colorectal cancer.

Ascendum Capital, a health care-focused investment platform founded in 2020, acquired the majority of the shares of a developer of a disposable robotic system designed to navigate tricky vascular passages for an undisclosed amount. Yehuda, Israel-based Endoways Ltd. developed the technology in the Medx Xelerator and will move to Dinova Medtech’s Israeli incubator until its catheter laboratory-focused robot launches for commercial use.

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.

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.