SHANGHAI – Another year, another Shanghai October packed with conferences. But this time around, the angst of regulatory and reimbursement challenges has been replaced with a growing realization that the momentum of change is accelerating, even if there is considerable unease around how to make the most of it. Read More

HONG KONG – A move by a Chinese biotech conglomerate to build a biosimilars manufacturing facility could mark a step forward in the development of the market. Read More

HONG KONG — Japanese neurobiologists have used a mouse model of spontaneous depression to demonstrate a link between depression and the paraventricular thalamus, a region of the brain not previously linked to depression, a finding that could lead to the development of new antidepressive therapies. Read More

Sun Biomedical Ltd., of West Perth, Australia, added a fourth site to its phase II study into the safety and efficacy of DMX-200, a chronic kidney disease candidate that combines the existing drugs, irbesartan and propagermanium. The single-arm, open-label trial includes a dose-escalation phase recruiting up to 30 patients and an expansion study in which up to 30 patients will be treated at the optimal identified dose. Read More

SHANGHAI – When Zai Lab Ltd. first came on the scene 18 months ago, nabbing global rights to two Sanofi SA assets for chronic respiratory disease, it looked like Zai would join the ranks of emerging virtual biotechs that use in-licensing to close China's unmet medical needs gap, but this time with a focus on oncology and autoimmune diseases. Read More

SHANGHAI – Beijing-based Canbridge Life Science Inc., a biotech focused on developing Western drugs that treat China-specific diseases, has received an additional $10 million in VC financing, doubling the round it completed last year and putting the total venture financing at $20 million. Read More