HONG KONG – With the U.S. approval under its belt, Verastem Inc. is looking at China as the next big market for Copiktra (duvelisib), inking an exclusive licensing deal with CSPC Pharmaceutical Group Ltd., of Shijiazhuang, China, in exchange for $15 million up front in deal for rights to develop and commercialize Copiktra for all oncology indications in China. Read More
LONDON – Braced for canceled classes after Typhoon Trami crossed west Japan overnight on Sunday, Kyoto University instead found itself swept up in a far more genial atmosphere, as news broke Monday that Tasuku Honjo, staff member since 1984, had won the 2018 Nobel prize in physiology or medicine. Read More
Alvotech ehf., of Iceland, and an independent sister company of U.S. pharmaceutical firm Alvogen Group Inc., recently joined hands with China's Changchun High & New Technology Industries Group Inc. to develop, manufacture and commercialize Alvotech's biosimilars in the Asian country. The collaboration will see a new joint venture with manufacturing capabilities in China's Jilin province, which will be equally funded by both companies. Read More
HONG KONG – Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare gave the nod to Blincyto (blinatumomab) for use in relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), marking the bispecific T-cell engager's entry into the Asian market, following approvals in the U.S., all members of the EU and European Economic Area, Canada and Australia. Read More
HONG KONG – The recent M&A deal between Japan's 237-year-old Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. and Irish firm Shire plc has attracted massive attention, not just because of the mammoth size of the deal but also the tug of war among the Japanese company's shareholders, a group of which made a failed attempt to block the deal during Takeda's general meeting earlier this year. Read More
The highly pathogenic H7N9 avian influenza viruses that emerged in China in 2017 evolved rapidly into different viral subtypes and genotypes, which were largely controlled by mass vaccination of chickens, a Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) study has established. Read More
Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., of Tokyo, and Eli Lilly and Co., of Indianapolis, said they entered a license agreement for OWL-833, Chugai's oral non-peptidic GLP-1 receptor agonist, which is a phase I-ready asset that is being studied for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Read More
TAIPEI, Taiwan – Astrazeneca plc said recently it would make a TWD1 billion (US$32.5 million) R&D investment in Taiwan over the coming three years, nearly tripling its clinical R&D spending. The company said that investment will drive the roll-out of 10 new medicines by 2021, which will target ovarian cancer, lung cancer, severe asthma and diabetes. Read More
