To viral or not to viral: In vivo CAR T debates delivery tech
The field of cell and gene therapy is moving toward a new phase of scalability and clinical durability, with in vivo chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapeutics emerging as the dark horse in what speakers at BIO Asia-Taiwan 2026 described as CAR T’s second revolution.

To viral or not to viral: In vivo CAR T debates delivery tech
The field of cell and gene therapy is moving toward a new phase of scalability and clinical durability, with in vivo chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapeutics emerging as the dark horse in what speakers at BIO Asia-Taiwan 2026 described as CAR T’s second revolution.
Advancell raises $315M to power global isotope strategy
Advancell Co. Ltd. has raised an oversubscribed $315 million series D round to accelerate its push to become a fully integrated global radiopharma developer, funding late-stage clinical development alongside isotope supply and manufacturing infrastructure.
Capital remains selective in ‘barbell’ biotech market
Signs of recovery are emerging in the biotechnology investment sector, although investors across Asia say that capital is flowing selectively to companies that can demonstrate clinical differentiation, strong management teams and a clear path to commercialization.
US-based Axiom plans Hong Kong listing
Axiom Biosciences, rebranded from Cytonus Therapeutics Inc. in June 2026, plans to be one of the first U.S. biotechs to IPO on the main board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. The San Diego-based company is preparing audits as the first step to a potential IPO in 2027.
News in brief
BioWorld Asia briefs for July 21, 2026
Hansoh takes newco route to globalize IL-23 asset
Hansoh Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd. has taken a new step in the evolution of China’s “newco” strategy, combining its newly created U.S. company, Avere Therapeutics Inc., with Nasdaq-listed Nextcure Inc. in a deal designed less to merge pipelines than to create a public vehicle for global development of a China-originated asset.
Asia deal flurry draws AZ, Spero to $1B+ Dizal, Innovent assets
Another day, another two multibillion-dollar deals with Asian companies, this time involving Dizal Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. and its EGFR inhibitor for lung cancer, as well as Innovent Biologics Inc. and its anti-CD40L antibody for a chronic fibroinflammatory condition.
June’s $25.7B M&A haul caps biopharma’s record-breaking first half
Biopharma deal value through the first half (H1) of 2026 reached $170.11 billion, surpassing every prior year in BioWorld’s records, including 2025’s $139.35 billion, the previous high-water mark. June was the second-strongest month of H1 at $34.59 billion, trailing only May’s $41.95 billion.
Best of BioWorld: Q2
A selection of top news from April through June 2026.

Analysis and data insight

Behind China’s retractions, a paper-mill economy built on incentives
Clinical
To Ivan Oransky, China’s paper-mill problem is best understood as an incentives story. “This is literally organized crime,” the Retraction Watch co-founder told BioWorld. “Follow the money. When there’s an opportunity to make money, they will find it, and if your whole career is based on how...
China trial retractions put data transparency in spotlight
Cancer
As China becomes a major source of global clinical trial evidence, the retraction of a high-profile China-led lung cancer study is raising questions about whether journals, regulators and drug developers have adequate systems to validate fast-moving clinical claims.
2026 marks critical turning point for BCI technology
Clinical
Decades of research are helping unravel the “black box” of the brain. The second article in BioWorld’s series on the Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) field looks at how simultaneous breakthroughs in AI technology are pushing the BCI field from a theoretical concept to a potential real-world, clinical...
China partnerships drive biopharma’s biggest deal month since 2023
Deals and M&A
Biopharma deal value through the first five months of 2026 reached $135.36 billion, outpacing every prior year and topping 2025’s previous high of $103.92 billion. May was the year’s biggest month so far at $41.78 billion in transactions, making it one of the strongest individual months on record,...

Financings

Integrant targets cartilage repair with AI-biologics platform
Medical technology
For decades, treatment options for osteoarthritis have followed a familiar path: As cartilage deteriorates and pain worsens, conservative therapies eventually give way to joint replacement surgery. Australian regenerative medicine company Integrant Pty Ltd. wants to change that trajectory. Rather...

Australia

Island Pharma targets Ebola species lacking approved treatments
Clinical
Island Pharmaceuticals Ltd. has secured government and ethics approvals to deploy its investigational antiviral galidesivir in patients infected during the escalating Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in Africa, giving the small Australian biotech a rare opportunity to collect prospective human data in an...

Cynata’s Cymerus flops in osteoarthritis, GVHD
A closer look
Neither of Cynata Therapeutics Ltd.’s pivotal trials for its Cymerus stem cell platform met the primary endpoints, with no statistically significant differences between active and control groups on primary or key secondary efficacy measures, CEO Kilian Kelly told investors during a June 22...
Dimerix out-licenses DMX-200 to Everest in AU$481M deal
Endocrine/metabolic
Dimerix Ltd. has signed an exclusive licensing deal with Everest Medicines Ltd. to commercialize its phase III kidney disease candidate DMX-200 in a transaction worth up to AU$481 million (US$340 million), plus sales royalties.

China

HLB, Hengrui receive third US FDA rejection on liver cancer combo
Regulatory
The U.S. FDA declined to approve, for a third time, an investigational liver cancer drug regimen comprising HLB Co. Ltd.’s rivoceranib and Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.’s camrelizumab, reportedly citing issues from a drug manufacturing facility inspection.
Some clinical trials in China under US congressional scrutiny
Clinical
The House Select Committee on China launched an investigation into clinical trials involving U.S. companies that are conducted at Chinese military hospitals and in Xinjiang, China.
Wuxi Apptec seeks immediate relief from US listing
Regulatory
Despite the Biosecure Act’s five-year wind-down period that isn’t expected to start until mid-2028, Wuxi Apptec is already feeling the repercussions of being added last month to the U.S. Department of War’s Section 1260H list.
High-profile retraction tests confidence in China-led studies
Clinical
Nature Medicine has retracted a widely publicized Chinese lung cancer study that suggested administering immunotherapy before 3 p.m. could dramatically improve survival in a decision that comes amid heightened scrutiny of research integrity and data transparency in high-impact biomedical journals.
Ollin’s $330M series B underscores rise of China-origin newco model
Financings
The oversubscribed $330 million series B round secured by Ollin Biosciences Inc. marks more than another large venture round in ophthalmology. It also highlights an emerging biotech financing model in which Chinese pharma companies discover and clinically validate promising drugs before handing...

Regulatory

Korea targets generics, innovation in drug pricing overhaul
Aging
South Korea is moving ahead with its biggest reform of drug review and pricing in more than a decade, reflecting a wider shift across Asian markets to reward innovation and tighten controls on generics.

Newco news

Curacle, Memento ink $1B deal for ocular TIE2/VEGF bispecific
Deals and M&A
Curacle Co. Ltd. inked a potential $1.07 billion deal with U.S.-based “newco” Memento Medicines on May 10, granting the latter exclusive global rights to develop and commercialize preclinical TIE2/VEGF-directed bispecific antibody MT-103 for retinal disorders.

Sonire starts US study of cancer HIFU after $18M series A
Clinical
Sonire Therapeutics Inc. initiated a U.S.-based Sunrise II study of Suizenji, its novel ultrasound-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) system designed to ablate pancreatic tumors, after closing an $18 million series A financing round April 15.
Pilatus PLT-012 takes immunometabolic approach to reprogram TME
Cancer
Pilatus Bio Inc. is working to address a major under-addressed target of current checkpoint inhibitors: metabolic stress within solid tumors. “Traditional immunotherapies release immune ‘brakes,’ but they do not address the underlying metabolic stress in tumors,” Pilatus CEO and cofounder Raven Lin...

Science

CINP 2026: Gut microbiota could predict antidepressant response
Conferences
The gut microbiota may be altered in people with depression as a result of treatment. These microorganisms reorganize differently in individuals who respond to therapy. In a multiomics study of antidepressant-naive patients presented at the 2026...
Viva in vivo! At EHA, in vivo CAR T data continues to impress
Clinical
Treatment with first-generation CAR T cells regularly sent patients to the intensive care unit. Now, investigators are envisioning a future where CAR T treatment could occur on an outpatient basis.
Kaleidoscope-like ‘engineered disorder’ expands imaging potential
Medical technology
A new metasurface design strategy that replaces rigid order with “engineered disorder” could significantly increase how many optical functions can be integrated into a single ultra-thin device without increasing size or complexity, according to a...
Hematopoietic stem cell research points to leukemia’s early roots
Conferences
Hematopoietic stem cell research over the past century has shown that leukemia may be driven by an invisible hand of inflammation. The bone marrow and inflammation, then, may hold the keys to preventing blood cancers, according to John E. Dick’s...
Targetable ‘high-plasticity cell state’ important for cancer progression, drug resistance
Cancer
Cancer cells expand through mutations – but not just through mutations. They also change their behavior in the absence of underlying genetic alterations. Such plasticity helps the cells both adapt to the cellular stress fueled by out-of-control...
Sea anemone venom acts as a senolytic tool against cancer
Aging
The sea anemone Stichodactyla helianthus, which carpets the Caribbean seafloor, may hold the key to eliminating the senescent cells that survive cancer therapy. A collaboration led by Spanish scientists across several international research...

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