Shares of Gilead Sciences Inc. were dented April 23 after reports surfaced that its antiviral drug, remdesivir, failed to improve the condition of patients with COVID-19.
HONG KONG – The South Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare (MHW) is seeking a manager for its new ₩100 billion (US$81.63 million) private equity fund, which aims to help domestic biotech and medical device companies expand into overseas markets.
BEIJING – CAR T specialist Wuhan Bio-Raid Biotechnology Co. Ltd. said its BRD-01, an anti-CD30 CAR T therapy candidate, has been granted IND approval by China’s NMPA. It is the first CD30 candidate to enter the clinic stage amid an increasingly heated CAR T race dominated by candidates targeting CD19 and BMCA.
LONDON – Leading genome sequencing groups are launching the first meta-analysis in the hunt for genetic factors that explain why some people have worse COVID-19 symptoms than others, after agreeing to share patient sequence data from around the world.
LONDON – The World Health Organization (WHO) launched a global collaboration to accelerate development and production of COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics.
BEIJING – Nanobody startup Sysvax Inc. is developing a recombinant protein vaccine and a nanobody therapeutic for COVID-19, while trying to extend the half-life of potential COVID-19 treatments with its expertise in this smallest possible antibody format.
HONG KONG – Not even the 9,500 kilometers between Cambridge, U.K., and Tokyo, or the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, could prevent Japan’s Astellas Pharma Inc. from completing its acquisition of Cambridge-based Nanna Therapeutics Ltd. in a £12 million (US$14.78 million) deal.
PERTH, Australia – Australian stem cell company Mesoblast Ltd.’s shares were up nearly 39% on the news that its allogeneic cell therapy showed an 83% survival rate in ventilator-dependent COVID-19 patients with moderate to severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) treated at New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital.
BEIJING – Pre-revenue Chinese biotech Akeso Inc., of Zhongshan, Guangdong province, launched a high-profile IPO on April 24 in Hong Kong to reap HK$2.4 billion (US$314 million), even though the economy is taking a hard hit from the COVID-19 pandemic. The proceeds will help advance its PD-1/CTLA4 bispecific antibody for cervical cancer, aiming to be on the market by late 2021. Backed by Morgan Stanley and J.P. Morgan, the bispecific antibody specialist issued around 159.5 million shares at HK$16.18 per share, representing the top end of the indicative range. The IPO received an overwhelming response from retail investors, with shares significantly oversubscribed by 639.2 times.
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