Danish obesity and diabetes drugmaker Novo Nordisk A/S is set to acquire the Singapore-based KBP Biosciences Co. Ltd.’s hypertension drug, ocedurenone (KBP-5074), for potentially $1.3 billion, creating a platform to increase its reach in the cardiovascular (CV) landscape beyond a crowding obesity market. Read More
Abbisko Therapeutics Co. Ltd. announced positive first-in-human data for its highly selective fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) 4 inhibitor, irpagratinib (ABSK-011), for treating advanced hepatocellular carcinoma with FGF19 overexpression, which is seen in roughly 30% of liver cancers. Read More
China is pushing to increase biopharma investment to woo foreign investors, and the State Council laid out policy areas to further incentivize foreign companies to expand their operations in the country. Among those policies are guaranteeing equal treatment of foreign-invested enterprises and domestic enterprises, particularly in government procurement activities. Read More
Sanofi SA will pay $10 million up front and potentially $1 billion down the road to build artificial intelligence (AI) drug discovery modules with Biomap – the Silicon Valley-based biotech led by Chinese billionaire, software engineer and serial entrepreneur Robin Li known for founding China’s largest internet search engine and AI platform, Baidu, in 2000. Read More
Drug discovery in Japan has been steadily declining, and it has reached a crisis point where swift action is needed or pharma companies will leave Japan or stop listing products here, said speakers at the BioJapan 2023 meeting held Oct. 10 to 13 in Yokohama, Japan. Read More
Insanity has often been defined as doing the same thing and expecting different results, and Japan seems to be trapped in that rut largely because it can’t seem to do innovation differently, said speakers at the BioJapan 2023 meeting held Oct. 11 in Yokohama, Japan. Read More
Japan’s economy has remained stagnant for the last few decades, and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has heralded the biotech industry as a strategic industry to attract global partners, which was also one of the expectations for the BioJapan 2023 conference held Oct. 10-12 in Yokohama, drawing attendees from more than 37 countries and was the first live biotech industry event that welcomed foreigners since the COVID-19 pandemic. Read More
Precision cancer biotech Abion Inc. announced a positive interim phase II readout for ABN-401, its novel c-mesenchymal-epithelial transition (c-MET)-targeting tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), lighting a runway to its next trial as a combination regimen. Read More
In a study published in Nature on Oct. 11, coinciding with the beginning of IDWeek 2023 in Boston, researchers from Harvard Medical School described EVEscape, a method for anticipating the movements of SARS‑CoV‑2 by predicting potential mutations likely to escape current vaccines and treatments. Read More
Biopharma financings in 2023 – at $49.3 billion raised through the third quarter (Q3) – are tracking ahead of, or only slightly behind, several years since 2011, except for the two outlier years of 2020 and 2021 when there was a flurry of investments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Read More
In its first significant partnering deal since being founded in 2020, Medilink Therapeutics Co. Ltd. licensed exclusive global rights to an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) targeting HER3 to Biontech SE in exchange for an up-front payment of $70 million, with the possibility for additional payments tied to development, regulatory and commercial milestones exceeding $1 billion. Medilink retains rights in mainland China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Macau Special Administrative Region. Read More
Through Q3 2023 biopharma values are down 4.5% year over year, with 1,007 deals valued at $130.58 billion this year, compared to 1,179 deals worth $136.73 billion in the same time period in 2022. Biopharma deals have averaged $14.51 billion per month this year, a decrease from 2022’s average of $17.18 billion per month. September deals outpaced the average of both years, reaching $18.46 billion. Read More
Clinical updates from Asia, including trial initiations, enrollment status and data readouts and publications: Akeso, Asieris, Aslan Pharmaceuticals, Atom Bioscience, Carsgen Therapeutics, Foresee Pharmaceuticals, Genfleet, Hanall Biopharma, I-Mab Biopharma, Innovent Biologics, Meiji Seika Pharm, Samsung Bioepis, Shionogi, Sun Pharmaceutical. Read More
Regulatory snapshots, including drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations in Asia-Pacific: Ascentage Pharma Group, Astellas Pharma, Canbridge Pharmaceuticals, Kintor Pharmaceutical, Radiopharm Theranostics, Yiling Pharmaceutical. Read More
