SHANGHAI – In its third academic collaboration deal announced in China this year, Astrazeneca plc, of London, signed a translational research agreement with scientists from Tianjin Medical University (TMU) to explore novel targets for cardiac fibrosis, important in the area of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Read More

SHANGHAI – In a press conference, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) announced that its 10-month bribery investigation into the China operations of Glaxosmithkline plc had come to a close. The case will be transferred to provincial prosecutors in Changsha to further review the case. Read More

HONG KONG – Aware of the business potential of the biopharmaceutical market, including the growing prospects for biosimilars, Samsung Biologics Co. Ltd. is investing $2 billion into its biopharmaceutical arms. Read More

SUZHOU, China – A fitting end to an upbeat conference, the executive interview with Steve Yang, the newly anointed executive vice president and chief operating officer of Wuxi Pharmatech, left the crowd of entrepreneurs, scientists, executives and investors feeling optimistic about China's recent evolution and inspired to tackle the road ahead to bring China to a global level. Read More

HONG KONG – Powered by sales of biologics and other pharmaceutical products, Wuxi Pharmatech Inc. posted strong first quarter results hurt only by a depreciation in the Chinese RMB. Read More

SHANGHAI – At the 6th DIA Annual Meeting here last week, many of the 1,500 attendees are justifiably concerned about how to get medicines into the hands of those who need it most in China faster and more efficiently, where drugs hit the market several years after the U.S. or EU. Read More

HONG KONG – Merck & Co. Inc. has signed a deal to sell nine of its ophthalmic products to Japan-based Santen Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. The decision to spin off the products to its long-time partner is Merck's latest move out of the ophthalmic market. Read More

Viralytics Ltd., of Sydney, reported that a phase II study of Cavatak (coxsackievirus A21) in patients with late-stage melanoma was well tolerated by patients and provided both local and distant tumor responses. The company is presenting the data at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting in Chicago. Read More

Prana Biotechnology Ltd., of Melbourne, Australia, added Ira Shoulson to its board. Shoulson is a professor of neurology, pharmacology and human science at Georgetown University, and director of the University's Program for Regulatory Science and Medicine. Read More

Oxthera AB, of Stockholm, was issued Australian Patent No. 2006326016 related to pharmaceutical preparations and their use for treatment of hyperoxaluria. Read More