China’s Center for Drug Evaluation and South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety cleared Transcenta Holdings to begin phase III pivotal trials of osemitamab (TST-001) in combination with nivolumab and chemotherapy for first-line treatment of HER2-negative, Claudin 18.2 expressing locally advanced or metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal cancer.

Edding Group Co. Ltd. announced June 23 it filed for an IPO on the Hong Kong Exchange – news that comes amid a steep drop in China’s biopharma IPO market forecasting sluggish activity in a near-frozen “capital winter.”

Moderna Inc. may have risen to prominence during the pandemic with its messenger RNA (mRNA)-based COVID-19 vaccine, but it’s now casting a net far larger and wider. The company said on July 5 that it is readying international approval for its second mRNA vaccine called mRNA-1345 for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)-associated acute respiratory disease based on positive interim data from the ongoing Conquer RSV study in individuals 60 and older.

Adicon Holdings Ltd. raised HK$409 million (US$52 million) in an initial public offering on the Hong Kong stock market. Its shares opened at HK$12.32, jumped 12% and closed at HK$13.8 on the first trading day. Hangzhou, China-based Adicon is among the top three independent clinical laboratory (ICL) service providers in China by total revenues. It offers testing services to hospitals and health check centres through a network of 33 self-operated laboratories across China.

China’s Center for Drug Evaluation has cleared Jacobio Pharmaceuticals Group Co. Ltd.’s KRAS G12C inhibitor, glecirasib (JAB-21822), to begin a phase III pivotal study for pancreatic cancer.