SHANGHAI – Highlighting increasing public concern over drug, device and food safety in China, a crackdown on illegal pharmaceutical advertising has led to a dramatic increase in the number of reported cases.

• Prima Biomed Ltd., of Sydney, Australia, said the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety granted approval to begin the Phase II/III CANcer VAccine Study (CANVAS) of CVac at several sites. The company expects the sites in Korea – the first in Asia – to begin recruiting in several weeks.

The controversial theory that infection with Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) is a causative agent in Crohn's disease is about to receive its biggest test yet, as Redhill Biopharma Ltd. initiates a Phase III program involving RHB-104, an antibiotic treatment, in some 600 patients.

SHANGHAI – The announcement that China's largest pharmaceutical company will build the country's largest biotechnology research center in Wuhan is cementing the reputation of the Chinese city as a global biotech center. China National Pharmaceutical Group Corp. (Sinopharm) plans to build the center at the Wuhan National Bioindustry Base, also known as Biolake, in the city of Wuhan in Hubei Province.

SHANGHAI -–The travails of Zhejiang Hangzhou Xinfu Pharma, a small Chinese biotech firm that lost money several years running, are a clear warning to investors.

Shares in Bavarian Nordic A/S gained 6.6 percent on news that the European Commission had formally approved its third-generation smallpox vaccine Imvanex, based on a modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) vector.

• Scinopharm Pharmaceuticals Ltd., of Taiwan, and Sundia Meditech Co. Ltd., of Shanghai, formed a strategic alliance to seek more opportunities for collaboration on contract research and manufacturing services in mainland China. Further terms were not disclosed.

LONDON – There's been a summer bonanza of grants for European biotechs, with awards from different sources to fund projects ranging from early stage academic collaborations to running Phase II clinical trials.

Investors in Topotarget A/S got a dose of the jitters on news that its development partner, Spectrum Pharmaceuticals Inc., will delay its new drug application (NDA) filing of Topotarget's belinostat to the fourth quarter, pushing into next year the payment dates for two badly needed milestones.

LONDON – GW Pharma plc delivered positive results in a UK Phase III postmarketing study of Sativex, which will provide ballast for the launch of the cannabis-based product as a treatment for spasticity caused by multiple sclerosis in national markets across Europe and the Middle East.