HONG KONG – South Korea’s venture capital investment in the biopharma and medical sector set a new record in 2019. According to Korea Venture Capital Association (KVCA), local VC firms invested ₩1.1 trillion (US$930 million) over a total of 299 bio and medical ventures last year, representing 25.8% of the total VC investment executed in 2019.
HONG KONG – A team of researchers at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) claim to have invented the world’s fastest portable 2019-nCoV diagnostic device. From sampling to testing, the device is apparently able to detect the novel coronavirus in just 40 minutes. In comparison, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology that is currently in use can take between 1.5 to 3 hours. The device draws on the latest microfluidic chip technology from Shenzhen Shineway Hi-Tech Co. Ltd.
HONG KONG – As drug developers are racing to find a cure for the new coronavirus, researchers in Hong Kong claim to have made major headway in the development of a vaccine for the virus that has so far killed 132. Yuen Kwok-yung, the chair of infectious diseases at the University of Hong Kong’s (HKU) department of microbiology, said in a press briefing at Hong Kong’s Queen Mary Hospital that his team had successfully isolated the novel virus from the first imported case in Hong Kong. But he said the vaccine still needs months to be tested on animals and an additional year for human trials before it is fit for use.
HONG KONG – Global pharmaceutical company Mundipharma Pte Ltd. is gaining exclusive commercialization rights in Taiwan and Hong Kong to four biosimilar candidates from South Korean biopharma Samsung Bioepis Co. Ltd. targeting immunology and oncology.
Gennbio Co. Ltd. has signed an agreement with fellow Korean biotech Genexine Inc. to in-license two immunosuppressant drug candidates called GX-P1 (PD-L1 hyfc) and BSF-110 (PD-L1-hyFc-1L10m).
HONG KONG – South Korean biopharma Genesen Inc. has secured ₩2.2 billion (US$1.9 million) in seed funding to advance its peptide-based drug candidates for the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis.
MALAYSIA – Asian countries, like India, have been struggling to find a middle ground to the effective pricing of drugs and medical devices over the past year and several are looking at health technology assessment (HTA) programs as a solution for this issue in the coming year.
Following lengthy consultations with industry, Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has released its new regulatory framework for in vitro companion diagnostics (IVD CDx) that becomes effective in February. Until now, Australia did not have a framework for CDx.
BEIJING – U.S. biotech Tracon Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, has in-licensed from Chinese drugmakers 3D Medicines (Beijing) Co. Ltd. and Jiangsu Alphamab Biopharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. the rights to develop envafolimab, a subcutaneous PD-L1 antibody, to treat soft tissue sarcoma in North America.
HONG KONG - With a corporate valuation of $1.04 billion, the South Korean biosimilar company Aprogen Inc. has become the country’s first biotech “unicorn,” according to U.S. market research firm CB Insights. Korea now ranks fifth, tied with Germany, in terms of the number of unicorns, with total of 11 unicorns, a term used to describe private ventures with $1 billion-plus valuations.