TOKYO – For three decades now, a dengue pandemic has move around the world, making its way to Europe, the U.S., China and, since last month, Japan. For the first time in 70 years, a local case of dengue was identified in Tokyo. Neglected diseases like malaria, Chagas and dengue, are coming back into the spotlight in Japan thanks to the dengue outbreak and now an infusion of research capital. Read More

NEW DELHI – The Indian biotech firm Biocon Ltd. plans to buy back a stake in its research unit, Syngene, now held by GE Capital. The rapidly growing subsidiary represents more than a quarter of Biocon's revenues. The move, which will cost $35.5 million, is part of Biocon's restructuring of its R&D infrastructure, which will see some activities moved out of India. Read More

SHANGHAI – Beike Biotechnology Co. Ltd., a pioneer in China's stem cell industry, has entered a partnership with Altor Bioscience Corp. in a two-part licensing and equity deal. On the front end, Altor will see its coffers increase by $9 million, in a deal worth potentially $200 million in milestones and sales royalties. The agreement gives Beike the rights to develop and commercialize ALT-803, an interleukin-15 based superagonist complex in China, for all human disease indications. Read More

HONG KONG – The world's largest health care-dedicated investment firm, Orbimed, has secured a $325 million pan-Asia fund to invest in health care markets in the region, particularly in China and India. Read More

HONG KONG – With its latest deal to market vitamin D3 in Greater China, Lee's Pharmaceutical Holdings Ltd. is continuing along a growth path that has helped the company more than triple its share price in three years. Read More

TAIPEI, Taiwan – Oncology-focused Aslan Pharmaceuticals Pte. Ltd. has started dosing the first patients in a safety study of its lead compound ASLAN001, a small-molecule, oral pan-HER inhibitor for the treatment of solid tumors. Read More

Beigene Co. Ltd., of Beijing, said it achieved a $9 million milestone payment relating to its collaboration with Merck Serono, the biopharmaceutical division of Merck KGaA, of Darmstadt, Germany, for BGB-290, an investigational poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor candidate currently in phase 1 development. Beigene enrolled the fifth patient in the study, which triggered the milestone payment. Read More