Lepu Biopharma Co. Ltd. started trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange on Wednesday, raising HK$904 million ($115.9 million) in an initial public offering. Trading opened at HK$7.13 per share and slid to HK$6.70 by midday before closing at HK$7.13.
Odeon Therapeutics Inc. has acquired rights to two cancer candidates from Obi Pharma Inc. in a deal worth up to $200 million. The transaction gives Shanghai-based Odeon rights to develop, register, and commercialize the antibody-drug conjugate OBI-999 and a therapeutic cancer vaccine OBI-833 in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau.
Despite Reata Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s complete response letter (CRL) for bardoxolone in treating kidney function loss in those with Alport syndrome, the street treated the company well on Feb. 28.
Biorchestra Co. Ltd. has raised ₩54 billion ($45.1 million) in its latest series C fundraising, which will boost the development of the company’s lead RNA-based candidate for treating neurodegenerative diseases.
Shanghai Henlius Biotech Inc. has licensed its adalimumab biosimilar Handayuan to Getz Pharma Pvt. Ltd. and its affiliated company Getz Pharma International FZ LLC in an $8 million deal.
With the first global approval by Health Canada in hand, Medicago Inc. aims to provide 20 million doses this year of Covifenz – which itself represents another first, as a plant-originated, virus-like particle, recombinant, adjuvanted COVID-19 vaccine. “Hopefully, if all goes well, we’ll be able to do it faster than the last day of the last month” of the year, said Brian Ward, medical officer of Quebec City-based Medicago, a unit of Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corp., which partnered on Covifenz with Glaxosmithkline plc (GSK).
Regulatory snapshots, including drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations in Asia-Pacific: Affamed, Arch Biopartners, Ascletis, Beigene, Biontech, Cstone, Jixing, Lupin, Moderna, Zai Lab.
Clinical updates from Asia, including trial initiations, enrollment status and data readouts and publications: Bionet Asia, Edesa, Enanta, Gracell, JCR, Laurent, Nrx, Pharmajet, Regencell, Resverlogix, Technovalia.