Wuxi Nextcode Inc., of Shanghai, appointed Rob Brainin executive vice president and chief operating officer (COO), and Alex Fowkes chief strategy officer and executive vice president for innovation. Brainin worked previously at Illumina Inc., of San Diego, where he was vice president and general manager of life sciences and applied genomics. He has 15 years of experience leading the product development, market development and commercialization of life sciences and genomics technologies. Fowkes has served as COO since joining Wuxi Nextcode from Wuxi Apptec earlier in the year. In his new position, he will oversee the growth and execution of key large-scale strategic projects that are expected to underpin much of the growth of the global platform. Read More

Medisix Therapeutics Pte. Ltd., of Singapore, signed an exclusive licensing agreement with the National University of Singapore that included undisclosed patent and technology rights to develop certain intellectual property for commercial applications. Medisix is developing chimeric antigen receptor T cells that target T-cell lymphoma and leukemia. Read More

HONG KONG – Research in T-cell therapy has been gaining momentum, with biotech giants like Gilead Sciences Inc. keenly investing in the area. Meanwhile, Lion TCR Pte. Ltd., a smaller company based in Singapore, is also seeing progress with its T-cell therapy treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Read More

HONG KONG – Alvogen Korea Ltd. has announced an agreement for exclusive rights to license, sell and market Vivus Inc.'s obesity drug, Qsymia (phentermine/topiramate), in South Korea, a deal expected to shore up the company's strong position in the Korean market while adding to its obesity portfolio, said Petar Vazharov, Alvogen's Asia-Pacific executive vice president. Read More

HONG KONG – A recent University of Hong Kong (HKU) study has discovered a novel non-antibiotic drug with potent efficacy against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which represents a promising lead compound for development of anti-virulence drugs against S. aureus. Read More

SHANGHAI – The 2017 Healthcare Capital and Connections Summit is an event where American biopharmas, lawyers, bankers and investors come to Shanghai to see for themselves what the China opportunity is all about. The organizers, SPD Silicon Valley Bank, Piper Jaffray and Vivo Capital, do their part to line up a complementary group of Chinese counterparts for them to meet, face to face. Read More

Swept ahead of schedule by a summer protocol amendment, a positive phase III trial of Xtandi (enzalutamide) in men with early stage castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) is now providing key evidence that could back their inclusion in the drug's label. Long desired by Astellas Pharma Inc. and Pfizer Inc., the partners behind Xtandi, the change could make about 20,000 more men eligible for on-label use of the drug in the U.S. each year alone, bolstering sales and further validating Pfizer's $14.3 billion acquisition of Medivation Inc. Read More

HONG KONG – Chinese biotech company Harbour Biomed Therapeutics Ltd. has entered a collaboration and licensing agreement with South Korea's Hanall Biopharma Co. Ltd. for novel biologics. Under the agreement, Harbour, of Shanghai, will have the rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize HL-161 and HL-036 for the Greater China market, which includes the territories of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Read More