New drug approvals, financings and deals were seen across the Asia-Pacific biotech sector this week, with China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) granting clearances to Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.’s oral orexin receptor 2 agonist oveporexton for narcolepsy, as well as Haisco Pharmaceutical Group’s ciprocopan (HSK-39297) for paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria.

Hansoh Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd. has taken a new step in the evolution of China’s “newco” strategy, combining its newly created U.S. company, Avere Therapeutics Inc., with Nasdaq-listed Nextcure Inc. in a deal designed less to merge pipelines than to create a public vehicle for global development of a China-originated asset.

For decades, treatment options for osteoarthritis have followed a familiar path: As cartilage deteriorates and pain worsens, conservative therapies eventually give way to joint replacement surgery. Australian regenerative medicine company Integrant Pty Ltd. wants to change that trajectory. Rather than replacing damaged joints, the Sydney-based company is building a platform designed to regenerate cartilage and preserve joint function by combining biologics, medical devices and artificial intelligence.

Curacle Co. Ltd. inked a potential $1.07 billion deal with U.S.-based “newco” Memento Medicines on May 10, granting the latter exclusive global rights to develop and commercialize preclinical TIE2/VEGF-directed bispecific antibody MT-103 for retinal disorders.

Sonire Therapeutics Inc. initiated a U.S.-based Sunrise II study of Suizenji, its novel ultrasound-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) system designed to ablate pancreatic tumors, after closing an $18 million series A financing round April 15.

Pilatus Bio Inc. is working to address a major under-addressed target of current checkpoint inhibitors: metabolic stress within solid tumors. “Traditional immunotherapies release immune ‘brakes,’ but they do not address the underlying metabolic stress in tumors,” Pilatus CEO and cofounder Raven Lin said. “That’s why more than 60% of solid tumor patients do not respond to treatment.”

“Single drugs targeting single biological pathways are insufficient for complex diseases,” Remedy Cell Ltd. CEO Ayelet Dilion Mashiah told BioWorld. Remedy is taking a secretome-based approach to treat lung disorders, having moved its lead asset, RC-0315, into a first-in-human clinical trial for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in January.

Syneron Bio is emerging as one of the most heavily backed new entrants in the macrocyclic peptide space, raising more than $250 million in venture funding and securing a multibillion-dollar deal with Astrazeneca plc as it builds a platform spanning several of the most competitive frontiers in drug development.

Excalipoint Therapeutics Inc. launched with an oversubscribed $68.7 million seed financing round to advance a portfolio of T-cell engagers for solid tumors, marking one of the largest early stage financings in China biotech history.

Harbour Biomed is spinning out newco Solstice Oncology and is outlicensing its CTLA-4 antibody, porustobart (HBM-4003), to the newco in a cash and equity deal worth more than $1.2 billion.