Sinovac Biotech Ltd. said booster shots of its Coronavac vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 induce strong immune responses in adult and elderly populations following a considerable loss of antibodies six to eight months after completing the current two-dose regimen. Read More
Seagen Inc. and Remegen Co. Ltd. will collaborate to exclusively develop and commercialize disitamab vedotin, a humanized antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) targeting HER2, giving Remegen the chance to earn up to $2.4 billion in total milestone payments. Read More
Hutchmed Ltd. has struck a deal for Epizyme Inc.’s anticancer therapy Tazverik (tazemetostat) that could bring the latter up to $310 million. The agreement gives Hutchmed rights to research, develop, manufacture and commercialize Tazverik in greater China, which covers mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Read More
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd. (HKEX) has taken the first step towards allowing listings on the market via special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), also known as “blank check” companies. The move has left biotech companies wondering if the change could provide the next big opportunity to join the market after pre-revenue companies were first allowed to list there under a 2018 main board listing rule paved the path for them to do so. Read More
Schrödinger Inc. has paired up with Zai Lab Ltd. to collaborate on an oncology program targeting DNA damage response (DDR) in a deal that could net Schrödinger up to $338 million. Read More
SK Bioscience Ltd. has won approval from the South Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) to begin a phase III trial for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate GBP-510, making the recombinant protein antigen vaccine the first domestically developed candidate to make it to late-stage testing. “We aim to begin the phase III trials within August and to have the data ready by early 2022,” a company spokesman told BioWorld. Read More
Preliminary real-world data showed that Chinese inactivated vaccines are 63% protective against the COVID-19 Delta variant, China’s top epidemiologist Zhong Nanshan said at the 24th Respiratory Disease Academic Conference of Guangdong Medical Association in Guangzhou. Read More
Astrazeneca plc and Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd. are pushing forward with a challenge to Roche Holding AG with breast cancer drug Enhertu (trastuzumab deruxtecan) after it demonstrated superiority over the Swiss firm’s Kadcyla (trastuzumab emtansine) in a head-to-head trial. Read More
Akeso Inc. became the fifth company to score an approval for a homegrown PD-1 antibody in China, with penpulimab cleared for relapsed or refractory (r/r) classic Hodgkin’s lymphoma (cHL). Read More
Burning Rock Biotech Ltd. has formed a global strategic partnership with Impact Therapeutics Inc. to develop companion diagnostics for a pipeline of drugs in the field of synthetic lethality. Read More
PERTH, Australia – In a possible world-first decision, an Australian court has ruled that artificial intelligence can be named as the inventor of a patent. Read More
Cell therapy company Zhuhai Grit Biotechnology Inc. completed a series A+ financing of undisclosed value to advance its lead tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) program, GT-101 for advanced solid tumors, into the clinic by year end while also developing other TIL candidates in its pipeline. Read More
Clinical updates from Asia, including trial initiations, enrollment status and data readouts and publications: Akston, Brii, Eli Lilly, Humanigen, Immutep, Incyte, Jacobio, Kiniksa, Lumosa, Novavax, Pharmaxis, RDIF, Stemedica Cell Technologies, Takeda, Telix, Vanda. Read More
Biopharma happenings in Asia-Pacific, such as deals and partnerships, grants, preclinical data and other news in brief: Abbvie, Academia Sinica, Allarity, Anpac Bio-Medical Science, Antengene, Athersys, Biodelivery Sciences International, Burning Rock, Celularity, China Grand Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Holdings, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Enanta, Etherna Asia, Etherna Immunotherapies, GC, Glenmark, Healios, Impact, Imugene, Inmagene, Insilico Medicine Hong Kong, Ji Xing, Kissei, Kyowa Kirin, Mindrank, Mymd, Novartis, Novavax, Olix, Oyster Point, Pharmaxis, Roche, Sanotize Research and Development, Sorrento, Stemcyte, Synaffix, Takeda, Usynova, Westlake, Yuyu. Read More
