BEIJING – In one of the latest Sino-foreign collaborations formed to find a cure for the pandemic that has infected 3.5 million people worldwide, Shanghai-based Junshi Biosciences Co. Ltd. and Eli Lilly and Co. have disclosed an agreement to co-develop therapeutic antibodies for preventing and treating COVID-19. Under the terms, Junshi grants Lilly an exclusive license, outside of greater China, to conduct R&D, manufacture and distribute the SARS-CoV-2 JS-016 neutralizing antibodies developed by Junshi. Read More
HONG KONG – Israeli biopharma Redhill Biopharma Ltd. is looking to extend access to its new investigational drug, opaganib (Yeliva, ABC-294640), following the drug’s initial success from a compassionate-use study treating six patients in Israel hospitalized with moderate to severe COVID-19 symptoms. Read More
The climate crisis in the time of COVID-19 illustrates the difference between the important and the urgent. There is, of course, no alternative to focusing on the current pandemic. But at the same time, the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has not changed the fact that the climate crisis is a coming wave whose health consequences will ultimately dwarf those of any single infectious agent. Read More
PERTH, Australia – Roughly 40% of Australia’s biotech companies are seeking capital as they feel the pinch from international travel bans that seriously hamper capital raising, according to a recent Ausbiotech survey. Read More
A multi-institutional group led by the University of California at San Francisco’s Quantitative Biosciences Institute (QBI) has identified more than 200 host proteins that interacted with SARS-CoV-2 viral proteins during infection, creating “a blueprint of how SARS-CoV-2 hijacks human cells.” Read More
BEIJING – Shanghai-based bispecifc antibody startup Epimab Biotherapeutics Inc. entered a research collaboration and license agreement with Brisbane, Australia-based QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute to look for novel bispecific target combinations, a move that could expand the startup’s pipeline.
Saudi Arabia, which last year made its first appearance on the U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) Priority Watch List, is back on the list this year and is being singled out for an out-of-cycle review due to what the USTR calls its “unfair commercial use” and “unauthorized disclosure” of proprietary data submitted for drug approvals. Read More
Even as the world grapples with COVID-19, researchers and public health officials are trying to apply its lessons to future outbreaks. In our series “The next pandemic,” BioWorld explores the strategies and technologies that could improve the fight against future outbreaks, from robust surveillance to rapid vaccines. Read More
The latest global regulatory news, changes and updates affecting biopharma, including: Chugai, Pfizer, Roche, Therapeutic Goods Administration. Read More
Clinical updates from Asia, including trial initiations, enrollment status and data readouts and publications, including: Aridis, Athersys, Biontech, Calcimedica, Chimerix, Cromos, Eiger, Eli Lilly, Geneone Life Science, Gilead Sciences, Gracell, I-Mab, Innate, Innovent, Inovio, Janssen, Lupin, Mesoblast, Morphosys, Novartis, Pfizer, R-Pharm, Synairgen, Yuhan. Read More
Regulatory snapshots, including drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations in Asia-Pacific, including: Akarx, Algernon, Ascentage, Capricor, Combioxin, Cytodyn, Junshi, Moderna, Pharmamar, Remegen, Shionogi, Telix. Read More