The number of biopharma deals and mergers and acquisitions completed are on a downward slide quarter-by-quarter, although when taken as a whole, the industry in 2019 has completed as many transactions and is hitting a higher deal value than the year before, while M&A values are up by 32%.

HONG KONG – Singapore's Aslan Pharmaceuticals Ltd. and South Korea's Bukwang Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. have jointly established a new company dedicated to the development of aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) drug candidates. Named Jaguahr Therapeutics Pte. Ltd. – the unusual spelling a clear reference to "AhR" – it will be based in Singapore and will focus on developing immuno-oncology therapeutics for global markets based on the preclinical AhR antagonists in Aslan's early stage pipeline.

CEO Mark McKenna told BioWorld Asia that San Diego-based Prometheus Biosciences Inc. has "cracked the code" in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) – progress underscored by the firm's deal with Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., of Osaka, Japan, which brings an undisclosed up-front payment and as much as $420 million more if development, regulatory and commercial milestones are reached in three programs.

HONG KONG – South Korean biotech Bioleaders Co. Ltd., headquartered in Yong-in city, Gyeonggi-do, and Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science, based in Rehovot, recently founded a joint venture in Israel. With the new entity, they will accelerate the R&D of a Weizmann-developed approach targeting p53, a strong tumor suppressor that has proved difficult to drug.

PERTH, Australia – Melbourne-based regenerative medicine company Cynata Therapeutics Ltd. is enjoying a bit of hot pursuit as Fujifilm Corp. exercised its license option to develop and commercialize Cynata's lead Cymerus mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) product, CYP-001, for graft-vs.-host disease (GVHD) at the same time that Cynata is an acquisition target by Dainippon Sumitomo.

PERTH, Australia – Australian cell therapy developer Mesoblast Ltd. has partnered with Germany's Grünenthal Group to develop and commercialize Mesoblast's allogeneic cell therapy candidate, MPC-06-ID, in a deal that carves out Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean.

BEIJING – Shenzhen-listed Chinese firm Nanjing Hicin Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. has in-licensed an isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) inhibitor known as I111b from Italian oncology specialist Nerviano Medical Sciences Srl (NMS) to develop and commercialize the drug globally for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

Aveo Oncology Inc. and Kyowa Kirin Co. Ltd. amended their 2006 license agreement so that Kyowa Kirin can buy back the non-oncology rights of tivozanib in Aveo territories, including the U.S. and the EU, while Aveo retains U.S. rights in cancer.

LONDON – It's the technology that keeps on giving, and the Heptares unit of Sosei Group Corp. has attracted a further partner to its G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) platform, signing up Takeda Pharmaceutical Ltd., in a deal worth up to $1.2 billion.