Heralded as a potential turning point for U.S. innovation in the 21st century, the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, S. 1260, is a big step closer to becoming law. The Senate voted 68-32 June 8 to pass the sweeping $250 billion bipartisan bill intended to give the U.S. an edge over China when it comes to innovation and investment in several critical industries.

Remegen Ltd.’s HER2-targeted disitamab vedotin became the first domestic antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) to win marketing approval in China, just three months after the company scored its first NDA approval in China for its lupus drug Tai’ai (telitacicept).

The Guangzhou Sino-Israel Bio-industry Investment Fund (GIBF) has raised more than half of its proposed ¥2 billion (US$313 million) round. “The second fund, GIBF2, will focus on Israeli and European biotechnology companies, which are developing innovative drugs and are in phase II to III clinical trials,” Avner Lushi, the CEO and co-founder of the GIBF, told BioWorld. The Chinese RMB fund is managed by The Guangzhou Elim Biotech Industry Venture Capital Management Company, which is controlled by a group of prominent Israeli professionals.

Micurx Pharmaceuticals Inc. has won marketing approval from China's NMPA for its lead antibacterial, contezolid, for treating adults with complicated skin and soft tissue infection (cSSTI), marking the first NDA for the Shanghai drugmaker. Set to be marketed as Youxitai in China, Micurx discovered the new-generation oral oxazolidinone antibiotic, developing it over 12 years. It’s designed to treat multidrug-resistant gram-positive bacteria such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and vancomycin-resistant Enterococci.

Sinovac Biotech Ltd.'s inactivated COVID-19 vaccine, Coronavac, has been approved by Chinese regulators for emergency use in children aged between 3 and 17, the company’s CEO Yin Weidong told Chinese state media on June 4. Sinovac briefly unveiled phase I/II data in the age group back in April. Chinese state media, China Central Television, said it confirmed the news with an expert from China’s State Council, though an official announcement has yet to be made. Sinovac did not immediately respond to BioWorld’s query to confirm the news.

China is making strides in cell and gene therapy, notably so with a 61% surge in the number of clinical trials in six years, a new report by Ernst & Young showed. While analysts noted the increasing innovation efforts and cross-border collaborations, concerns remain if quality will be compromised by speed.

HONG KONG – Following a wave of concern about the efficacy of two COVID-19 vaccine candidates developed by China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm), interim analysis of an ongoing phase III trial, published May 26 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, has shown that adults receiving at least one dose of either of the company’s two inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccines had significantly reduced the risk of symptomatic COVID-19.

In their latest submission to Science, Weifeng Shi, director and professor at the Institute of Pathogen Biology at Shandong First Medical University in China, and George Gao, head of Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, have warned that “the global spread of H5N8 avian influenza viruses is a public health concern.”