Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., of Seoul, South Korea, and Bioalliance Pharma SA, of Paris, inked a supply and license deal for Sitavig (acyclovir Lauriad) for commercialization rights in South Korea. Daewoong also will take over registering the drug, for use in recurrent labial herpes, in that region. Bioalliance is eligible for up-front and milestone payments, and the deal also includes a double-digit royalty rate. Specific financial terms were not disclosed.

HONG KONG – Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. has the green light to manufacture and market its cell cultured influenza vaccines co-developed with Baxter International Inc. The approval is yet another step in Japan's push to boost its influenza preparedness.

HONG KONG — A potent investigational new AIDS drug that has shown promising results as pre-exposure prophylaxis against HIV in macaque monkeys, is now being considered for testing in a clinical trial among high-risk individuals in Hong Kong and elsewhere in China.

HONG KONG – The Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria based in Geneva, was in Shanghai last week initiating talks on how to source directly the antiretroviral (ARV) drugs it distributes to patients in need around the world.

HONG KONG – An Indian court has banned exports of a generic cancer drug, giving Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals Inc. a first victory in an ongoing lawsuit to protect the patent of targeted cancer drug Nexavar (sorafenib), one of its star performers co-developed with Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Astellas Pharma Inc., of Tokyo, said it obtained marketing approval of oral androgen receptor signaling inhibitor Xtandi (enzalutamide) for the treatment of patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer in Japan. Xtandi is approved in the U.S. and Europe and is being jointly developed and commercialized by Medivation Inc., of San Francisco. Under the companies’ deal, Medivation is entitled to a $15 million milestone payment upon Japanese approval. (See BioWorld Today, Oct. 28, 2009.)

HONG KONG – With a plan to build its own version of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), Japan is looking to expand the interaction and cooperation between three major ministries and get the most out of the government’s ¥320 billion (US$3 billion) in biological and biomedical research spending.

SHANGHAI – Astrazeneca plc, of London, has invested continuously in China’s R&D capabilities over the past seven years and shows no signs of letting up. The latest deal with the newly minted Nephrology and Urology Center, part of the Shenzhen University Health Science Center, will focus on preclinical research for diabetic nephropathy, the damage done to kidneys in late-stage diabetes.

SHANGHAI – Hainan Haiyao Co. Ltd., of Haikou, China, revealed in a regulatory filing that is has some cash to spend and is seeking to buy its way into some new opportunities, with biotechs at the top of its list.