Korean confectionary company Orion Holdings Inc. is growing its biotech presence by purchasing a majority stake of 25% in one of the hottest Korean antibody-drug conjugate developers, Legochem Biosciences Inc., although stocks dropped on the news. Under the contract announced Jan. 15, Seoul-headquartered Orion agreed to acquire a 25.73% stake in Daejeon-based Legochem by securing about 9.36 million shares for a total of ₩548.7 billion (US$412.11 million) by the deadline of March 29, 2024. Read More
Shanghai-based Ji Xing Pharmaceuticals has signed a number of licensing deals over the last week for China rights to cardiovascular drugs to advance its pipeline and its global ambitions, partnering most recently with Tokyo-based TMS Co. Ltd. after the Chinese company acquired global rights for TMS-007 (also known as BIIB-131) from Biogen Inc. Read More
U.S. biopharma Sermonix Pharmaceuticals Inc. handed off China rights of lasofoxifene, an oral endocrine therapy in development for breast cancer, to Shanghai’s Henlius Biotech Inc., for an undisclosed up-front payment and up to $58 million in milestone fees. Read More
Axelia Oncology Pty Ltd. was spun out of Ena Respiratory Pty. Ltd., which developed a series of synthetic Toll-like receptor (TLR) 2/6 agonists for nasal delivery to treat respiratory infections, including influenza and SARS-CoV-2. Although the pegylated TLR 2/6 agonist, INNA-051, was initially focused on antiviral activity, the company discovered that it also worked in oncology models, and Axelia was spun out to focus on oncology, CEO Phil Kearney told BioWorld. Read More
Major contract research development and manufacturing organizations (CDMO) out of Asia are announcing plans to ramp up production and antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) capabilities worldwide. Read More
China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) has accepted for review Hutchmed’s NDA for sovleplenib (HMPL-523) for treatment of primary immune thrombocytopenia. Read More
Tough times can create great companies if they can navigate the turbulence, a panel of biopharma executives and academics told attendees at the Wuxi Global Forum 2024. Companies must learn how to endure bad periods and thrive during the good times, said Mathai Mammen, CEO of Fogpharma Inc., because those disparate financial and scientific cycles will never go away. Right now, the money part is tough, but the science is thriving Read More
Current risk genes for some diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS) may have emerged in the past as protection against infection by different pathogens. A group of researchers led by scientists from the University of Copenhagen has analyzed the ancient DNA of European populations and has revealed how MS, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and diabetes arose as populations migrated. This evolution would explain the modern genetic diversity and the incidences of these pathologies observed today in the old continent. Read More
While the value of partnerships and collaborations have climbed mostly upward in recent years, the most impressive increase has been seen with deals that are worth $1 billion or more – led in 2023 with a $22 billion antibody-drug conjugate pact between Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd. and Merck & Co. Inc. Read More
Clinical updates from Asia, including trial initiations, enrollment status and data readouts and publications: Highfield, Innovent, Junshi, Zai Lab. Read More
Biopharma happenings in Asia-Pacific, such as deals and partnerships, grants, preclinical data and other news in brief: Biontech, Enamine, Henlius, Sermonix, Syntheticgestalt, Wuxi. Read More
Regulatory snapshots, including drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations in Asia-Pacific: Abisko, Astellas, Bioarctic, Caliway, Fermion, GC Cell. Read More
