Immuno-oncology company Imugene Ltd. announced an AU$80 million (US$53.9 million) capital raise that will allow the company to add additional studies within its immuno-oncology pipeline as well as pursue potential licensing opportunities. The funds raised will allow the company to interrogate its pipeline further in other indications or combinations, Imugene CEO Leslie Chong told BioWorld. “There’s a lot we could do with our current pipeline, and now our cashflow is greatly extended.” Read More
Neukio Biotherapeutics Co. Ltd. has raised $50 million to support preclinical validation and clinical development of new cell therapies for cancer. Read More
Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd., having advanced a first-in-class cancer drug through preclinical studies, is selling some rights and sublicensing others for the dual-kinase inhibitor to Sillajen Inc. Read More
Startup Avelos Therapeutics Inc. raised $8 million in series A funding that will launch the company’s biomarker-driven cancer therapy pipeline using its synthetic lethality platform. Participating in the series A funding were SV Investment, UTC Investment, Quad Investment Management, Timepolio Asset Management, Mirae Asset Venture Investment and Mirae Asset Capital. Read More
The May 2014 approval of Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.’s Entyvio (vedolizumab) brought welcome news in the form of an important mechanism of action for patients with ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, but also means a burdensome course of administration – 30 minutes’ worth of infusion every six weeks, a drawback that other developers are trying to remedy. Standouts among the up-and-comers are Morphic Holding Inc., with an oral candidate that works through the same mechanism of action as Entyvio, and Protagonist Therapeutics Inc. Read More
E-nitiate Biopharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. has raised ¥100 million (US$14.4 million) in a series A round to speed up the clinical trials of its lead assets, QY-201 and QY-101, and expand the pipeline. “Our strategy is to focus on the ‘blue ocean’ of the dermatosis market,” said Shi Jun, chief medical officer at E-nitiate Biopharma. “The first step is to enter China’s autoimmune skin diseases market.” Read More
Voronoi Inc. out-licensed its pan-RAF inhibitor program in a deal worth up to $482.2 million with Metis Therapeutics, a company integrating drug discovery and delivery with artificial intelligence and machine learning. Read More
Top-line phase III results showing Hutchmed Ltd.’s targeted therapy fruquintinib reduced the risks of death and disease progression by 34% and 68%, respectively, for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer could “lay a solid foundation for Hutchmed to initiate discussions with regulatory authorities worldwide,” a spokesperson of Hutchmed, told BioWorld. Read More
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Radiopharm Theranostics Ltd. have launched Radiopharm Ventures LLC, a joint venture (JV) that will develop radiopharmaceutical therapies for cancer. Radiopharm Theranostics owns 51% of shares in the new entity, while MD Anderson owns 49%. Read More
An antibody that protects babies against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) from Astrazeneca Ltd. and Sanofi SA was among a string of recommendations from the EMA’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, paving the way for approval within the next few months and a potential launch in 2023. Read More
New and updated preclinical and clinical data presented by biopharma firms at the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress 2022, including: Adagene, Akeso, Alphamab Oncology, Astellas, Astrazeneca, Daiichi Sankyo, Eisai, I-Mab, Merck, Seagen, Starpharma, Transcenta. Read More
Clinical updates from Asia, including trial initiations, enrollment status and data readouts and publications: AB Science, Adamis, Ascletis, Effector, Omeros. Read More
Biopharma happenings in Asia-Pacific, such as deals and partnerships, grants, preclinical data and other news in brief: Apollomics, Biocytogen, Biomarin, Cage, CSL, Enzolytics, Guangzhou Fineimmune, IDT Biologika, J Ints Bio, Merck, Metis, Peptistar, Qurient, Radiopharm, Rigimmune, Sorrento, Subintro, Tagcyx, Twist, Valeo, Valneva, Voronoi. Read More
Regulatory snapshots, including drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations in Asia-Pacific: Anbogen, Astrazeneca, Atea, ATMA Journey Centers, Belite, Biontech, Cstone, Gilead Sciences, H. Lundbeck, I-Mab, Innocare, Novavax, Otsuka, Pfizer, Revive, Takeda, Transcenta, Vaxxinity. Read More
