An expert panel of Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) pushed back on recommending conditional approval for a second time for Shionogi & Co. Ltd.’s orally administered COVID-19 antiviral 3CL protease inhibitor, S-217622, also known as ensitrelvir. Read More
Neurofront Therapeutics Ltd. has picked up an option to acquire exclusive Asia rights to a phase II non-opioid drug from Novaremed AG. Under terms of the deal, Novaremed is eligible to receive more than $130 million in option and exercise fees as well as development, regulatory and sales milestone payments plus royalties on net sales. Read More
Frontera Therapeutics Inc. raised $160 million in a series B funding round to develop its lead gene therapy product candidate for retinal disease, FT-001, for which INDs have been approved by the U.S. FDA and China NMPA. Read More
South Korea’s Medipost Co. Ltd. is gearing up for phase III trials in the U.S. of its stem cell therapy, Cartistem, an allogeneic human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cell therapy for treatment of knee articular damage in patients with osteoarthritis. Read More
After political leaders across the globe made patents and other intellectual property safeguards the scapegoat for disparities in access to COVID-19 vaccines, the biopharma industry is sharing its vision for how to deal with the foundational issues of equitable access in pandemics to come – and it has nothing to do with IP waivers like the one World Trade Organization members adopted last month. Read More
The technology behind one of the most high profile COVID-19 vaccine development programs has been re-engineered to correct a design fault and now forms the basis of newco Vicebio Ltd. The London-based company has shown its face for the first time following its founding in 2019 around molecular clamp technology from the University of Queensland, Australia. Read More
Convalife Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. acquired global rights to develop and commercialize a phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) β/δ inhibitor from Karus Therapeutics Ltd. Read More
Clinical updates from Asia, including trial initiations, enrollment status and data readouts and publications: Canbridge, Daiichi Sankyo, I-Mab, Immvira, Innovent Biologics, Kyowa Kirin, Mei, Olipass, Seelos, Shionogi, Takeda, Vaxart, Yuyu. Read More
Biopharma happenings in Asia-Pacific, such as deals and partnerships, grants, preclinical data and other news in brief: Antengene, Astrazeneca, Brii, Celularity, China Resources Pharmaceutical Commercial, Daiichi Sankyo, F-star, HLB, Lee’s, Neurofront, Novaremed, Novavax, Propanc, Regenerx, Seagen, SK, Sosei Group, Starpharma, Takeda, TSB, Unicycive, Valneva. Read More
Regulatory snapshots, including drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations in Asia-Pacific: Ascentage, Astrazeneca, Daewoong, Daiichi Sankyo, Genfleet, Gilead Sciences, Incannex Healthcare, Innovent, Junshi, Moderna, Novavax, Qu, Samsung Bioepis, Sorrento. Read More
