PERTH, Australia – Australia was one of the first nations to slam its borders shut during the pandemic, praising its efforts in containing COVID-19 infections. Read More
With a special interest in neurological disorders, Hopstem Biotechnology Co. Ltd. closed a series A++ round to raise nearly ¥100 million (US$15.5 million) to advance hNPC-01, an off-the-shelf induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC)-derived human forebrain neural progenitor cell product to treat chronic conditions caused by stroke and traumatic brain injuries. Read More
Hongyun Biotech Co. Ltd. raised ¥100 million (US$15.5 million) in a series B round to move its new generation EGFR inhibitor, RC-01, to the IND stage in China and the U.S. for non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). The plan is to finish the IND filing by the end of this year and start the trial in 2022. Read More
Sinocelltech Group Ltd. won market approval from China’s NMPA for SCT-800, a B-domain deleted recombinant human coagulation factor VIII, for the prophylactic treatment of severe hemophilia A in adolescent and adult patients. This marks the first homegrown drug for treating hemophilia A in China. Read More
Shionogi & Co. Ltd. started a phase I trial in Japan for S-217622, its orally administered 3CL protease inhibitor for treating COVID-19. Should the drug be approved by Japanese regulators, it would be the first Japanese-developed COVID-19 treatment to be approved in the country. Read More
China’s NMPA gave conditional approval to Henan Sincere Biotech Co. Ltd.’s dual-targeting, oral HIV drug, azvudine, to treat HIV-1-infected adult patients with high viral loads. Azvudine could challenge lamivudine, a drug extensively used for treating HIV infection. Read More
Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare approved the Regen-Cov (casirivimab/imdevimab, also known as Ronapreve) antibody cocktail for the treatment of patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 via intravenous infusion. Read More
While regulators and policymakers across the world are stressing the need for equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, therapies and devices, their own policies and regulations may be getting in the way of that goal. The World Trade Organization (WTO) released a list of trade-related bottlenecks July 20 that are hindering access to pandemic-related medical products. Read More
Cell and gene therapy have seen much progress in recent times, with the product pipelines in those areas bursting with more than 1,200 therapies. Naturally, the challenges, opportunities and essential development strategies in those fields were the focus on the last day of the BIO Asia-Taiwan Conference 2021. Read More
The biotech industry in Asia is a promising market, but it still has a long way to go to narrow the gap between Asian and Western markets, according to speakers on day two of the BIO Asia-Taiwan Conference 2021. Read More
Financing is the fuel that drives growth in the biopharma sector, and participants at the BIO Asia-Taiwan Conference 2021 this week discussed different financing strategies for companies in the currently booming market. Read More
Clinical updates from Asia, including trial initiations, enrollment status and data readouts and publications, including: Acticor, Antengene, Bonus Biogroup, Frontier, Kyowa Kirin, Nrx, Ose Immunotherapeutics, Qilu, Redhill, Samsung Bioepis, Sesen, Sorrento, Takeda. Read More
Regulatory snapshots, including drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations in Asia-Pacific, including: Ascentage, Ascletis, Astellas, Astrazeneca, Biovaxys Technology, Direct Biologics, Gtreebnt, Humanigen, Kyowa Kirin, Levena, Mabpharm, Moderna, Oblato, Organicell Regenerative Medicine, Rarestone, Regeneron, Sanofi, Sinovac, Sorrento, Swedish Orphan Biovitrum, Yisheng. Read More
