The latest study by the Functional Annotation of the Mammalian genome (FANTOM) group, an international consortium led by Japan's RIKEN Institute, has compiled the first extensive atlas of microRNA expression in human primary cells, which could help development of new cancer treatments. Read More

Prima Biomed Ltd., of Sydney, added Grant Chamberlain to its board. Chamberlain is former head of mergers and acquisitions and financial sponsors for Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Australia, and has more than 20 years' experience in investment banking including former positions at Deutsche Bank and Nomura. Read More

Zai Lab Ltd., of Shanghai, filed for an initial public offering in the U.S., seeking to raise $115 million. No other details were revealed. In June 2017 Zai raised $30 million in a series C preferred equity financing round. The Zai pipeline includes the China rights for ZL-2306, Waltham Mass.-based Tesaro Inc.'s ovarian and breast cancer PARP 1 and 2 inhibitor. But the late-stage preclinical candidate most likely to go to IND first is XL-2301 (brivanib), licensed from Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., of New York. Read More

NEW DELHI – India launched its first formal industry-academia mission to ramp up its biopharma development by promoting entrepreneurship and indigenous manufacturing to transform the country into a global hub for cutting-edge biotechnology R&D. Read More

A study reported Aug. 14, 2017 in Nature Cell Biology has identified a nuclear factor involved in brown fat metabolism that contributes to the pathophysiology of obesity in humans, which could lead to the development of new brown fat-targeted anti-obesity therapies. Read More

Comparing the expansion of a young biopharma to the maintenance of a home, Terry Rosen, CEO of Arcus Biosciences Inc., pointed out that "If you think you're going to sell your house in six months, you put on a fresh coat of paint and new hardware on the doors. But if you're going to stay for 30 years, you fix everything inside the walls. Nobody can see it, but you've built a much stronger structure." Read More

HONG KONG – As the incidence of diabetes in China continues to climb to alarming rates, multinational and local pharmaceutical companies are racing to take a larger slice of the growing market pie, but patients in lower-tier cities will have to wait before they can access innovative treatments. Read More

HONG KONG – Chinese regulators have clarified the legal consequences of data falsification in new drug and medical device applications, alarming the industry – both applicants for registration and research institutions – by raising falsification to the level of a criminal law violation. Read More