Cross-border startup Scineuro Pharmaceuticals Ltd., which focuses on central nervous system (CNS) diseases, inked a deal with Eli Lilly and Co. to license in the greater China rights of alpha-synuclein-targeted antibody therapies to follow the global drug development trend in this space.

Now drugmakers can gain instant access to hospitals in Hainan province right after their innovative drugs are approved by China’s National Medical Products Administration to skip market entry hurdles.

HONG KONG – Beijing Stonewise Technology Co. Ltd., a med-tech firm that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to aid in the discovery of small molecule drugs, closed series B and B+ financing rounds that added $100 million to its pocket. The company intends to use the proceeds to upgrade its AI-enabled drug discovery platform.

HONG KONG – In a surprisingly candid statement, the director of China’s Centers for Disease Control conceded that the efficacy of Chinese coronavirus vaccines is "not high" and may require improvements.

Zai Lab Ltd., China rights holder for the Deciphera Pharmaceuticals Inc. drug Qinlock (ripretinib), has obtained NMPA approval for the therapy, a treatment for adults with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) previously treated with three or more kinase inhibitors, including imatinib, sunitinib and regorafenib.

Lianbio Co. Ltd. has inked a $200 million deal with Tarsus Pharmaceuticals Inc. for greater China rights to the phase IIb/III-stage candidate, TP-03 (lotilaner ophthalmic solution, 0.25%), designed to treat Demodex blepharitis and Meibomian gland disease (MGD). Lianbio will pay $15 million up front and up to $185 million in development and commercialization milestones.

Suzhou-China based Cstone Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., which in-licensed RET inhibitor pralsetinib from Blueprint Medicines Corp. in 2018, has won Chinese approval for the drug to treat adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic RET fusion-positive non-small-cell lung cancer after platinum-based chemotherapy. Already approved as Gavreto in the U.S., the drug is Cstone’s first product approved in China and the country’s first selective RET inhibitor.

The continuing politicization of COVID-19 vaccines is undermining medical science and the international response to the pandemic. “Vaccine nationalism is very troubling,” Jeremy Levin, chair of BIO's executive committee, told BioWorld.