Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd announced it will buy out partner Shanghai Henlius Biotech Inc. for up to HKD$5.4 billion (US$691.7 million), according to a joint announcement on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
France’s Théa Open Innovation, a subsidiary of Laboratoires Théa SAS, terminated its licensing agreement with South Korea’s Olix Pharmaceuticals Inc., and returned global rights of Olix’s ocular small interfering RNA (siRNA) biologic agents, OLX-301D and OLX-301A.
Aprilbio Co. Ltd. saw its stock surge 30% June 20 after announcing a potential $475 million (₩655.88 billion) deal with Evommune Inc. for autoimmune disease drug candidate APB-R3.
South Korea’s Imbiologics Inc. scored a potential $940 million (₩1.3 trillion) technology transfer deal with U.S. biotech Navigator Medicines Inc. for its bispecific antibody drug candidate, IMB-101 (Oxtima), to treat autoimmune diseases.
Following a day of deals that collectively bring a potential $3.75 billion into three biopharma companies – namely Ascidian Therapeutics Inc., Belharra Therapeutics Inc. and Mabcare Therapeutics – researchers will be busy discovering new therapies for neurological and immunological diseases, and advancing globally a candidate for solid tumors.
Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. has signed an option agreement to in-license Ascentage Pharma Group Inc.’s olverembatinib, an oral third-generation BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI). If exercised, the option would allow Takeda to license exclusive global rights to develop and commercialize olverembatinib in all territories outside of mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and Russia.
Biopharma deal value surged in May to $18.76 billion, up 23% from April's $15.28 billion. This increase follows March’s $8.29 billion and February’s $7.76 billion, although represents a decline from January’s $27.9 billion. The monthly average for 2024 stands at $15.64 billion, compared to the $18.14 billion monthly average in 2023. Meanwhile, the value of biopharma M&As rose to $4.75 billion in May, an increase from April’s $1.33 billion, which was the lowest figure in nearly a year.
Through a global rights agreement with Futuregen Biopharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Abbvie Inc. continues to build its immunology portfolio to help offset losses from Humira as biosimilars tighten their grip on the mega-blockbuster.
Lotus Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. is acquiring the Thailand business and commercial entity of Teva Pharma Thailand to expand its footprint in Southeast Asia.
Abtis Co. Ltd., Dong-A ST’s newly incorporated subsidiary since December 2023, is making headway with its leading Claudin18.2-targeting antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) candidate, AT-211, according to Abtis CEO Taedong Han. “About 80% of gastric cancers do not have HER2 overexpression, but 77% overexpressed Claudin18.2,” Han told Bio Korea 2024 audience members on May 9, stressing that AT-211 was found to be highly potent against cancer cells expressing Claudin18.2 in ADC cell viability studies.
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