Phagelux Inc., of Shanghai, said it entered definitive purchase agreements of preferred stock with a group of institutional investors, including both existing and new investors, to raise $10 million, with the company issuing an aggregate of 176,796 shares of series A preference stock. The company, which has both human health and agrihealth divisions, is developing antibacterial solutions across multiple fields utilizing various phage and phage-based technologies and solutions.

HONG KONG – The discovery of a previously unknown autophagy defect associated with sarcopenia in mice could enhance the treatment or prevention strategies for managing the wasting condition in humans, suggest the findings of a study by Japanese researchers at Toyohashi University of Technology (TUT).

A group of China-based investors is backing Bioatla LLC's bid to address growing demand for new immunotherapies in the country with a $30 million equity buy-in. Bioatla President, CEO and Chairman Jay Short called it a "transformative event" that will help the company leverage expertise at its established Beijing lab to build new strategic partnerships with Chinese biophama companies in pursuit of further developing its conditionally active biologic (CAB) antibody platform and other technologies.

SHANGHAI – Inside Johnson & Johnson Innovation Center's 17-deal announcement, the Asia Pacific Innovation Center (APIC) shows it has been busy, too, signing four deals in the region: in Japan, Australia, Mainland China and Taiwan.

NEW DELHI – As it works to shore up its regulatory and testing systems, India has taken its show on the road.

HONG KONG – Shenyang biotech company 3SBio Inc. rose 2.7 percent on its first day of trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

SHANGHAI – New out of the gate, Suzhou Neupharma Co. Ltd., has put its first candidate, RX-108, into clinical trials. Like many companies in China with global ambitions, Neupharma is collecting its first-in-human data in Australia while it waits for its trials to get a green light in China. (See Beigene story this issue.)

LUCKNOW, India – An Indian government-funded drug research institute plans to set up a biopharma industry incubation center to attract entrepreneurs in northern and central India, areas that are home to a number of high-quality research laboratories but are in dire need of bioclusters.

TAIPEI, Taiwan – Pharmaengine Inc. said it submitted a new drug application (NDA) to the TFDA, Taiwan's drug regulatory body, for the liposome version of irinotecan, PEP02, as a second-line treatment for pancreatic cancer patients who have failed gemcitabine therapy.