Hightide’s HTD-1801 outperforms Farxiga in type 2 diabetes
Hightide Therapeutics Inc.’s berberine ursodeoxycholate (HTD-1801) met the primary endpoint showing superior improvements in key cardiometabolic markers in patients with type 2 diabetes compared to Astrazeneca plc’s SGLT2 inhibitor, Farxiga (dapagliflozin), in a head-to-head phase III trial.

Hightide’s HTD-1801 outperforms Farxiga in type 2 diabetes
Hightide Therapeutics Inc.’s berberine ursodeoxycholate (HTD-1801) met the primary endpoint showing superior improvements in key cardiometabolic markers in patients with type 2 diabetes compared to Astrazeneca plc’s SGLT2 inhibitor, Farxiga (dapagliflozin), in a head-to-head phase III trial.
Subcutaneous biologics maker Bao Pharma prices $128M IPO
Bao Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., a developer of subcutaneous biologic drugs, priced its IPO at HK$26.38 on Dec. 2, aiming to raise about HK$1 billion (US$128 million). Bao expects net proceeds of HK$921.5 million after expenses, which will fund its “two-anti” strategy – developing both antibody and antibiotic drugs worldwide, mainly in China, the U.S. and Europe.
Otsuka submits NDA for new non-stimulant ADHD therapy
Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. filed an NDA with the U.S. FDA for centanafadine (formerly EB-1020), a new nonstimulant therapy for treating attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children, adolescents and adults. Centanafadine is a norepinephrine, dopamine and serotonin reuptake inhibito formulated as a once-daily extended-release capsule.
China approves Innovent’s picankibart as first domestic IL-23p19
China’s National Medical Products Administration gave the nod to Innovent Biologics Inc.’s picankibart (IBI-112), branded as Pecondle, for treating moderate to severe plaque psoriasis in adults who are candidates for systemic therapy.
Vigencell’s cell therapy for lymphoma meets phase II endpoint
Vigencell Inc. plans to seek conditional approval in South Korea for VT-EBV-N, an antigen-specific killer T-cell therapy for natural killer T-cell lymphoma, after gaining positive top-line data from a phase II study Nov. 25.
Myrio first to develop binders with high affinity/specificity
Myrio Therapeutics Pty Ltd. has been able to accomplish something no other company has yet been able to crack: to develop binders where both the affinity and the specificity can be increased.
HIV remission after heterozygous CCR5Δ32 stem cell transplant
2025 has been the most challenging year in the efforts to fight HIV since at least the advent of antiretroviral therapy. In a report on “Overcoming disruption, transforming the AIDS response,” released last week ahead of World AIDS Day on Dec. 1, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) described “a global system in shock” by sharply reduced funding from the U.S. and other wealthy nations. Scientifically, for now, progress is ongoing.
News in brief
BioWorld Asia briefs for Dec. 2, 2025

Analysis and data insight

Biopharma dealmaking climbs 17% in October to $31.9B
Deals and M&A
Biopharma dealmaking activity remained strong in October, with total deal value reaching $31.86 billion, a 17% increase from $27.15 billion in September and ranking as the second-highest month in 2025 after June’s $35.43 billion.
ABL Bio’s Grabody lands second $2.6B deal, this time with Lilly
Deals and M&A
ABL Bio Inc. inked a license and research agreement with Eli Lilly and Co. worth up to $2.6 billion to develop multiple therapeutics using the Grabody-B platform. Under the terms announced Nov. 12, ABL will receive a $40 million up-front payment and up to $2.56 billion in development, regulatory...
Biopharma financings jump 86% in October, raising $13.2B
Financings
Biopharma financings from January through October 2025 totaled $61.45 billion, roughly in line with the $61.04 billion raised during the same period in 2023 but down sharply from last year’s $93.83 billion.
Biopharma nonprofit dealmaking and grants stabilize in a new normal
Deals and M&A
Biopharma partnerships involving nonprofits have declined sharply since peaking during the pandemic. Deal value surged from $5.18 billion in 2019 to $21.44 billion in 2021, driven by COVID-19 collaborations and vaccine-related funding, before falling to $7.99 billion in 2022 and $754.6 million in...

Financings

Phrontline raises $60M in pre-A+ round for bispecific ADCs
Antibody-drug conjugate
Phrontline Biopharma Suzhou Co. Ltd. closed a $60 million pre-A+ financing round led by Lapam Investment, with participation from nine other investors. The funds raised will support Phrontline’s development of next-generation antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) candidates.

Australia

Advancell sets new radiopharma standard in prostate cancer
Clinical
Aussie radiopharma company Advancell Co. Ltd. unveiled promising early clinical data that could redefine how advanced prostate cancer is treated by targeted alpha therapies in the radiopharmaceutical space.

Argenica’s stroke drug shows positive trends in functional outcomes
Clinical
Although Argenica Therapeutics Ltd.’s stroke drug, ARG-007, saw mixed results in top-line phase II data, new data in functional outcomes studies showed signs the drug helped patients think more clearly, regain independence, and enjoy a better quality of life after stroke.
Genentech $569M deal lifts Starpharma stock 73%
Deals and M&A
Starpharma Holdings Ltd.’s stock shot up 73% on the news that it is outlicensing its dendrimer enhanced product drug delivery technology to Roche Holding AG subsidiary Genentech Inc. in a deal worth more than $569 million.

China

Henlius, Organon win US FDA approval of first Perjeta biosimilar
Clinical
Shanghai Henlius Biotech Inc. and Organon & Co. announced Nov. 17 that the U.S. FDA cleared Poherdy (pertuzumab-dpzb) as the first and only interchangeable biosimilar to Perjeta (pertuzumab, Genentech Inc./Roche Holding AG).
Signet builds new model for gastric cancer drug discovery
Newco news
Signet Therapeutics founder Haisheng Zhang is betting on organoids and AI to outsmart diffuse gastric cancer and the limits of traditional “clean” drug design.
Lumosa’s stroke drug meets phase IIb endpoints in China
Clinical
Lumosa Therapeutics Co. Ltd.’s intravenous odatroltide (LT-3001) met the primary endpoints in a phase IIb trial in China in patients with acute ischemic stroke, paving the way for a pivotal phase III study.
Lepu’s MRG-003 cleared as China’s first EGFR ADC for advanced NPC
Cancer
Lepu Biopharma Co. Ltd. said Oct. 30 it won Chinese approval of a novel antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), Meiyouheng (becotatug vedotin injection), making it China’s first epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-directed ADC for advanced nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC).
Innovent rings up $11.4B deal with Takeda for three I-O/ADC assets
Deals and M&A
Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. agreed to codevelop and commercialize up to three of Innovent Biologics Co. Ltd.’s immuno-oncology (I-O) and antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) candidates with the signing of a $11.4 billion deal, including $1.2 billion paid up front.

Regulatory

Otsuka’s IgAN therapy gets a thumbs-up from the FDA
Genitourinary/sexual function
The priority BLA from Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., of Tokyo, and its U.S. subsidiary, Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization Inc., for sibeprenlimab to treat immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) has received accelerated approved by the U.S. FDA.

Newco news

SK Bio, Eurofarma launch Mentis Care for digital epilepsy care
Artificial intelligence
SK Biopharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. and Eurofarma Laboratórios SA launched a new joint venture called Mentis Care Inc. Oct. 21, dedicated to developing an AI-powered platform for epilepsy management.

Kalexo enters dyslipidemia fray with preclinical siRNA candidate
Deals and M&A
Mabwell Bioscience Co. Ltd. and Aditum Bio Management Co. LLC announced, in after-market hours Sept. 17, an agreement to forge a new company called Kalexo Bio Inc. and load the biotech with a preclinical dyslipidemia asset via a potential $1 billion global license deal.
Braveheart licenses Hengrui's heart drug HRS-1893 in $1B deal
Deals and M&A
Braveheart Bio Inc. is paying $65 million up front to license Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd.’s oral hypertrophic cardiomyopathy drug candidate called HRS-1893.

Science

Adenosine surge is common thread in ketamine and ECT response
Neurology/psychiatric
Researchers from the Chinese Institute for Brain Research, the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, and their collaborators have identified adenosine as the driving force behind the rapid, fast-acting antidepressant effects of ketamine and...
Opportunity, risks of cell therapy to tackle aging and disease
Analysis and data insight
Stem cells are a promising therapeutic modality to fight aging and age-related disease, speakers at the Bio-Plus Interphex Korea 2025 said. Progress in cell-based longevity medicine is being made, they added, although safety, ethical and...
Bio Japan 2025: Nobel Prizes invigorate Japan’s bio industry
Conferences
Bio Japan 2025 was abuzz with the news that Japan has once again snagged the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, with Shimon Sakaguchi winning for his discovery of a subtype of CD4-expressing T cells that affect the immune response. Earlier...
2025 Nobel honors autoimmunity discoveries
Analysis and data insight
The Nobel Committee announced today that it has awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to three scientists for their discovery of regulatory T cells, which are a critical part of the way the body prevents autoimmune attacks.
Allergens attack by way of pores in epithelial cell membrane
Chinese scientists have discovered a common mechanism by which structurally distinct proteins elicit an allergic reaction, showing they cause the formation of pores in epithelial airway cells.
Australian researchers identify world-first treatments to prevent HTLV-1 infection
Collaboration
Around 10 million people globally live with the life-threatening human T-cell lymphotropic virus type-1 (HTLV-1), yet it remains a poorly understood disease that currently has no preventative treatments and no cure.

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