China announced Jan. 17 which further pharmaceutical companies it will buy from under its centralized procurement program that seeks the lowest prices. The price war has forced foreign players to revalue the Chinese market and prompted Chinese players to come up with survival strategies under a policy that aims to consolidate the industry. Read More
BEIJING – Hong Kong-headquartered Hutchison China Meditech Ltd.’s (Chi-Med) called an early stop to its phase III pivotal study of surufatinib in advanced pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (NET) in China after it met the predefined primary endpoint of progression-free survival. Read More
Shanghai-based I-Mab Biopharma Co. Ltd. became the first IPO out of the gate this year, pricing its IPO of about 7.4 million American depositary shares (ADSs) – each 10 representing 23 ordinary shares of the company, par value $0.0001 per share – at $14 each, within the planned range of $12 at the low end and $15 at the high. But the stock’s performance might not have been all investors hoped, as shares (NASDAQ:IMAB) closed at $12.50 Jan. 17. Read More
Time will tell whether what the Trump administration is calling a “historic” and “landmark” trade agreement with China will better enable drug and device companies to more fairly compete in the Chinese market without having to sacrifice their intellectual property (IP) and technology.
PERTH, Australia – Sydney-based Noxopharm Ltd. announced that its spin-off, Nyrada Inc., began trading on Australia’s Securities Exchange (ASX:NYR) on Jan. 16, following an oversubscribed IPO that raised AU$8.5 million (US$5.8 million). Read More
HONG KONG – Bionetix Inc., of Suwon, South Korea, has secured ₩10.8 billion (US$9.33 million) in series B funding. The biotech, founded in February 2017, has attracted a total of KRW14.7 billion to date. The company will use the funds to advance NTX-301, a therapy for myelodysplastic syndrome/acute myeloid leukemia (MDS/AML) with epigenetic dysregulation, and NTX-101, a glaucoma treatment. Read More
BEIJING – In a deal that adds another clinical-stage program to its pipeline, U.S.-China biotech Oncologie Inc. has picked up global rights to phase II-ready anti-DLL4/VEGF bispecific antibody navicixizumab from London-based Mereo Biopharma Group plc. Read More
HONG KONG – In less than a year, China-based Shanghai Miracogen Inc. has extended its partnership with Oss, the Netherlands based Synaffix BV for a second antibody-drug conjugate (ADCs) candidate. The new deal is similar to one signed last year in that it gives Miracogen nonexclusive rights to Synaffix’s Glycoconnect and Hydraspace ADC technologies for use in a second clinical candidate. Read More
HONG KONG - Singapore-based biotech Aum Biosciences Pte. Ltd., and Toronto, Canada-based biotech Cyclica Inc. have agreed to work together to apply Cyclica’s drug discovery platform in Aum’s R&D programs for the discovery of potential new cancer therapies. Aum will deploy its drug R&D skills including a biomarker-driven approach while Cyclica will contribute its AI-augmented platforms, Ligand Design and Ligand Express. Read More
Regulatory snapshots, including drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations in Asia-Pacific. Read More
