Sosei Group Corp., of Tokyo, appointed Andrew Oakley chief financial officer (CFO) effective Feb. 1. He will be based in Sosei's Tokyo offices. Oakley, a chartered accountant, received an MBA from London Business School and has held CFO positions in several publicly listed biotechnology companies including Actelion Ltd., Novimmune SA, and most recently at Vectura Group plc. Read More

Recce Ltd., of Sydney, reported that its lead candidate, RECCE 327, reduced illness in mice infected by carbapenem-resistant gram negative E. coli bacteria, a result that the company said could potentially strengthen an investigational new drug application it expects to file this year. Three groups of eight mice were infected with drug-resistant E. coli in the study and then treated with either tigecycline, RECCE 327 or no treatment. Scores assigned to measure the health of the mice indicated that intravenous injection of RECCE 327 (70 mg/kg) reduced illness and controlled weight loss in treated mice. Read More

PERTH, Australia – Proposed recommendations to update Australia's intellectual property (IP) system would be disastrous to the biopharma industry and would put a stranglehold on innovation and investment, industry stakeholders said. Read More

HONG KONG – Small South Korean biopharma firm Legochem Biosciences Inc. is looking to turbo-charge its operations by partnering with Takeda Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., one of just two companies that has successfully commercialized an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) drug. Read More

HONG KONG – South Korean biopharma Celltrion Inc. is looking forward to seeing its Remsima (infliximab) biosimilar product classified as "interchangeable" after a series of updates to the FDA's guidelines on biosimilars that were released much faster than the company expected. Read More

A plant-derived compound and its analogues may help prevent and treat hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and could contribute to the development of well-tolerated and broadly active inhibitors of HBV, including activity against treatment-resistant strains, a new Japanese study has found. Read More

PERTH, Australia – Australian regenerative medicine company Orthocell Ltd. got the validation it needed to move from being a small little-known Western Australian biotech company to move to the global stage via a research collaboration with Depuy Synthes Products for its Ortho-ATI stem cell technology for regenerating tendons and ligaments. Read More

SHANGHAI – The Shanghai-based joint venture Wuxi-Medimmune has received the go-ahead to start clinical trials from Chinese regulators for anti-IL-6 antibody WBP216 (MEDI5117) as a therapeutic for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, in particular rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Read More