Seoul, South Korea-headquartered Boryung Co. Ltd. grabbed headlines in 2022 with its strategic redesign to move beyond drug development, announcing that it would invest $10 million in Axiom Space Inc. for a 0.4% stake in the U.S. commercial space station developer. The investment ramped up over the course of a year, with Boryung pouring a total of $60 million into Axiom Space over two financing rounds for a 2.7% stake. Axiom is set to build the world’s first commercial space station. Read More
Verastem Oncology Inc. and Genfleet Therapeutics Ltd. have inked a discovery and development deal to advance three oncology discovery programs targeting RAS pathway-driven cancers. Read More
SK Bioscience Co. Ltd. and Vaxxas Pty. Ltd. have entered into a joint development agreement that could revolutionize vaccines by developing a vaccine-delivery device combination product using Vaxxas’ high-density microarray patch (HD-MAP) coupled with SK Bioscience’s typhoid vaccine, Skytyphoid. Read More
Verismo Therapeutics Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of South Korea’s HLB Co. Ltd., inked a license agreement with the University of Pennsylvania for two newly discovered CD19 binders – one of which will be used to develop Synkir-310, its investigative CAR T therapy for blood cancers. Read More
Opthea Ltd. plans to raise AU$80 million (US$51.2 million) via a AU$10 million private placement and a AU$70 million entitlement offer to continue its pivotal phase III trials in wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD) for lead candidate OPT-302. Read More
A nonsteroidal eye drop formulation of dazdotuftide, TRS-01 missed its late-stage primary endpoint for controlling inflammation in uveitis, but developer Tarsier Pharma Ltd. said post-hoc analysis showing a boosted benefit-risk profile over steroids may be a ray of hope. Read More
Cochlear Ltd. and Sensorion SA have published encouraging results on the combination of a molecule with a cochlear implant. Their proof-of-concept phase 2a study involved the combination of an orphan drug recognized in both Europe and the U.S. with cutting edge hearing aid implants to enhance the auditory capabilities of hearing aid users. Read More
Omnix Medical Ltd. is gearing up for a phase II trial next year of its novel peptide-based antibiotic OMN-6, the lead compound in a pipeline inspired by the antimicrobial strategies of insects. Read More
KRAS-mutated tumors were once untreatable. In fact, KRAS was something of a poster child for so-called undruggability. Several laboratories are investigating strategies to address other mutations and uses beyond non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and colorectal cancer. If you can't bind KRAS to block it, use a glue or combine multiple weapons. This is the idea behind two new approaches that target cancers caused by this proto-oncogene. Read More
The first seven months of 2023 saw clinical trial data up 1.43% compared to the same time period last year. From January through July this year, BioWorld reported on 2,064 drugs in phase I-III, compared to 2,035 in the same time period in 2022. The number of trial updates is down 14.07% from the 2,402 in 2021 and down from 2020’s 2,096, but up 18.15% from 2019’s 1,747. Read More
Clinical updates from Asia, including trial initiations, enrollment status and data readouts and publications: Bionomics, Clarity, Hutchmed, Kintor, Lynk, Recce, Stempeutics, Zhiyu. Read More
Biopharma happenings in Asia-Pacific, such as deals and partnerships, grants, preclinical data and other news in brief: Astellas, Bridgene, CSL Seqirus, Ferronova, Genfleet, Immunogen, Novartis, Orizuru, Peptigrowth, Sandoz, Sanyou, Sinorda, SK Bioscience, Specialised, Takeda, Treeway, Vaxxas, Verastem. Read More
Regulatory snapshots, including drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations in Asia-Pacific: Akeso, Astrazeneca, Canariabio, Dizal, Everest, Merck, Mycovia. Read More
