DUBLIN – Shares in Dublin-based Shire plc rose as much as 26 percent last week on news of a possible bid from Osaka, Japan-based Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. Under U.K. takeover rules, Takeda is bound to make an offer by 5 p.m. U.K. time on April 25. Read More
HONG KONG – Japan's Carna Biosciences Inc. and Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co. Ltd. signed an agreement potentially worth about $100 million to work together on the research, development and commercialization of novel kinase inhibitors, focusing on psychiatric and neurological disorders. Read More
SHANGHAI – This year's China Healthcare Investment Conference (CHIC) event, where investors and entrepreneurs gathered between the mirrored walls of the Ritz-Carlton, was especially supercharged, thanks to the recent decision by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to open its doors to pre-revenue biotech companies, a move that has the potential to usher in a new era of wealth and opportunity for many of the attendees. Read More
HONG KONG – Adagene Inc., of Suzhou, China, raised $50 million in series C financing to push its antibody candidates, already in the process of investigational new drug (IND) filings, closer to clinical studies in China and the U.S. Read More
HONG KONG – The discovery that autophagy can enhance erasure of memory suggests that autophagy inducers could represent a useful new therapeutic tool for treating common chronic anxiety-associated conditions in individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Read More
HONG KONG – With a $15 million seed round closed last month, young biotech firm Cullgen Inc. is looking to build a new drug discovery platform based on advanced ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation technology. Read More
Dimerix Ltd., of Melbourne, Australia, appointed David Packham chief medical officer. He will be responsible for the identification and engagement of clinical trial sites in Australia and will help to define and identify patient populations, particularly with respect to the rare disease focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. Packham is the director of the Melbourne Renal Research Group, a specialist research facility for nephrology studies, and has extensive experience in the design and conduct of phase II and III clinical trials in nephrology. He has served as Asia Pacific lead investigator on a number of pivotal international studies in nephrology over the last 10 years. Read More
Hua Medicine Ltd., of Shanghai, said it closed a combined series D and series E financing of $117.4 million, which is expected to fully fund the company through completion of its two phase III trials and commercial launch in China for dorzagliatin (HMS-5552), a fourth-generation glucokinase activator that treats the impaired blood glucose sensor function, addressing the underlying cause of type 2 diabetes. Read More
