Gennbio Co. Ltd. has signed an agreement with fellow Korean biotech Genexine Inc. to in-license two immunosuppressant drug candidates called GX-P1 (PD-L1 hyfc) and BSF-110 (PD-L1-hyFc-1L10m).
HONG KONG – South Korean-based med-tech Lunit Inc., of Seoul, has secured ₩30 billion (US$25.6 million) in series C funding. Founded in 2013, the Korean company has raised $50 million so far. Lunit’s corporate value was evaluated at as much as ₩200 billion as of the fundraising.
HONG KONG – South Korean biopharma Genesen Inc. has secured ₩2.2 billion (US$1.9 million) in seed funding to advance its peptide-based drug candidates for the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis.
HONG KONG – To boost the competitiveness of its medical device industry, South Korea will invest ₩1.2 trillion (US$10.3 billion) in medical device R&D over the next six years. Despite some high expectations for the new support, there are concerns about inefficient budget execution, and that the scheme is too short a term.
HONG KONG – Chinese med-tech regulators said in December that conditional approvals are now available to medical devices after the government created speedy review channels for devices that the country needs.
HONG KONG – Aiming to attract more active innovation to its medical device industry, South Korea updated some of its industry regulations through 2019. The ultimate goal was to make it easier for advanced medical technologies that use artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and 3D printing that have yet to penetrate the market due to inefficient approval processes.
HONG KONG – South Korea’s Medical IP Co. Ltd., an artificial intelligence (AI)-based medical 3D printing and software company, has won the FDA’s nod for its medical imaging analysis solution Medical Image Processing (Medip).
HONG KONG – South Korean med-tech venture Recens Medical Inc. has secured ₩7 billion (US$6 million) in series B funding. Lb Investment Inc., Kb Securities Co. Ltd., Bnk Securities Co. Ltd., Hyundai Venture Investment Corp. and Lighthouse Combined Investment Co. Ltd. participated in the investment.
HONG KONG – Pentax Medical Co., of Tokyo, has gained CE marking for its artificial intelligence-based polyp detector Discovery. The detector assists endoscopists in finding potential polyps during a colorectal examination. The software has been trained using more than 120,000 files from about 300 clinical cases.
HONG KONG – Fujifilm Corp. has entered an agreement with Hitachi Ltd. to acquire Hitachi Ltd.’s diagnostic imaging-related business to further expand Fujifilm’s health care business. Prior to the acquisition, Hitachi will found a new company and implement an absorption-type company split whereby the new company will absorb the business.
