Kaken Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.’s license agreement with Johnson & Johnson (J&J) for signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT)6 inhibitor KP-723 could presage further deals in STAT6, where a number of developers are active. Kaken’s arrangement with J&J involves the global development, manufacturing and sale of KP-723, which has reached the preclinical stage. Tokyo-based Kaken will take the drug through phase I trials, after which J&J takes over.
In a deal worth up to $1 billion, Ideaya Biosciences Inc. is in-licensing Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd.’s SHR-4849, a phase I DLL3-targeting opo-I-payload antibody-drug conjugate (ADC). Under terms of the deal, San Francisco-based Ideaya will develop and commercialize SHR-4849 worldwide outside of greater China, and Shanghai-based Hengrui is eligible to receive up to $1.04 billion that includes a $75 million up-front fee, $200 million in development and regulatory milestone payments, and commercial success-based milestone payments. Hengrui is also eligible to receive royalties on net sales outside of greater China.
From local drug discovery to global innovation, economic uncertainty is taking a toll on China’s innovative biotech system, forcing local companies to weather unpredictable storms, investors said during the Chinabio Partnering Forum in Shanghai in September.
Ausperbio Therapeutics Inc. raised $110 million from two financing rounds in 2024 to advance its lead antisense oligonucleotide candidate as a functional cure for chronic hepatitis B.
Certa Therapeutics Pty Ltd. has acquired Occurx Pty Ltd. in a move to strengthen its pipeline to target multiple fibrotic diseases as both companies share a focus on targeting GPR68, a defined G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) receptor that mediates signaling pathways associated with inflammation and fibrosis and is thought to be a master switch of fibrosis.
Zhongzhi Pharmaceutical Holdings Ltd. made a $3 million investment in a series A financing round of stem cell therapy developer Gabaeron Inc. Dec. 21, expected to help propel Gabaeron’s preclinical Alzheimer’s disease (AD) candidate into phase I testing.
At Bio Japan 2024, policymakers and industry leaders pledged to make Japan a land of drug discovery to attract native and foreign drug developers. Like many Asian countries, Japan is harnessing and prioritizing the bio sector to drive economic growth, throwing its weight behind its 10-year Bioeconomy initiative to create bioclusters and increase investment.
Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd.’s trophoblast cell surface antigen 2 (Trop2)-directed antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), datopotamab deruxtecan (dato-dxd), has been approved in Japan for treating adults with hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-negative unresectable or recurrent breast cancer after prior chemotherapy.
Regulatory snapshots, including drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations in Asia-Pacific: Astrazeneca, Keymed Biosciences.
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