Harbour Biomed Therapeutics Ltd., of Shanghai, appointed Kenneth M. Murphy to its scientific advisory board. Murphy, a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, is the Eugene Opie First Centennial Professor of Pathology and Immunology at Washington University. Read More
HONG KONG – Singapore-based Tessa Therapeutics Ltd. and China-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City (CSGKC) are committing a combined $120 million to establish a joint venture to advance cell therapies targeting prevalent cancers in China. Read More
HONG KONG – Terns Pharmaceuticals Inc., a company based in China and the U.S., entered a licensing and collaboration agreement with French company Genfit SA to develop and commercialize elafibranor, in development for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and primary biliary cholangitis (PBC). Read More
HONG KONG – Proteona Pte. Ltd., of Singapore, has launched the first commercial product designed to characterize both RNA and protein expression levels across thousands of single chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells. Read More
SAN FRANCISCO – New research presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Microbiology has shown that pure cannabidiol (CBD), the main nonpsychoactive chemical compound of cannabis and hemp, can rapidly kill gram-positive bacteria. Evidence of the effect has put clinical testing of BTX-1801, a potential therapy for serious skin infections under development at Philadelphia-based Botanix Pharmaceuticals Ltd., on track to enter the clinic later this year. Read More
Japan has become the first country to give approval for Rozlytrek (entrectinib), a drug targeting patients with NTRK fusion gene-positive solid tumors, regardless of the site of disease origin. The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) had granted the drug both orphan drug designation and Sakigake status, which allows the accelerated approval of drugs designated as breakthrough therapies. Read More
HONG KONG – Aiming to accelerate investment in China's science and technology ventures, Shanghai Stock Exchange officially opened a new market earlier this month. The Science and Technology Innovation Board (STIB) launched the Sci-Tech Innovation Board (STAR) to list Chinese companies with high potential, namely tech unicorns from emerging sectors such as biomedicine, AI, IT, advanced equipment, new materials and energy. Read More
HONG KONG – Astrazeneca plc said it will invest $630 million over the next five years in South Korea's health care industry, marking the largest-ever investment by a foreign pharma company in Korea. Read More
