South Korean biotech Pinotbio Co. Ltd. inked a $250 million (₩320 billion) licensing deal with Princeton, N.J.-based Conjugatebio Inc. to develop 10 antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) targets with Pinotbio’s ADC platform technology. The deal announced on Dec. 21 adds to a previous agreement between the two companies last year. Pinotbio and Conjugate first teamed up to discover and develop five ADC targets in June 2022.
Chinese authorities this year for the first time allowed access for complete U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) audit inspections and investigations of PCAOB-registered public accounting firms headquartered in China and Hong Kong, in accordance with U.S. securities law.
3D Medicines Inc. has raised HK$408 million (US$52.5 million) in a listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Its shares opened at HK$29 apiece, jumped by more than 20% by the middle of the day, and closed at HK$31.45 on the first trading day of Dec. 15.
Innovent Biologics Inc. has in-licensed LG Chem Ltd.’s tigulixostat (LC-350189), a late-stage non-purine xanthine oxidase inhibitor for managing chronic hyperuricemia in patients with gout, in a deal worth up to $95 million.
Medical technology company Synchron Inc. completed an AU$110 million (US$73.9 million) series C round that will allow the company to conduct a feasibility study and pivotal trial of its implantable brain computer interface that can interpret and stimulate parts of the brain.
Jiangsu Recbio Technology Co. Ltd. has received clinical trial approval for its novel adjuvanted recombinant shingles vaccine, REC-610, from the Food and Drug Administration of the Philippines. A phase I trial will be conducted in healthy volunteers.
Gaush Meditech Ltd. raised HK$672 million (US$86.4 million) on a Hong Kong Stock Exchange listing. The company plans to use 38.2% of the funds to improve its research and development capability and speed up the commercialization of its patents in two years.
Chaomu Technology (Beijing) Co. Ltd. has raised nearly ¥100 million (US$14 million) in a series A+ round to develop its ophthalmic medical devices. The proceeds from the financing will be used for the clinical trials of its electromodulation product for nystagmus and the development of implantable medical chips, as well as to speed up the development of products for myopia correction. Following the financing, Beijing-based Chaomu will expand to the global market by looking for collaborations with international institutions. It plans to obtain marketing approvals for its ophthalmic medical devices in the U.S. and Europe.
Chinese authorities this year for the first time allowed access for complete U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) audit inspections and investigations of PCAOB-registered public accounting firms headquartered in China and Hong Kong, in accordance with U.S. securities law.
A feasibility study conducted by the University of Queensland (UQ) confirmed the utility of Inoviq Ltd.’s exosome-based ovarian cancer screening test for isolating extracellular vesicle (EV) biomarkers. The Ovarian Cancer 97 study (OC97) screened data from 97 plasma samples and identified significant differences between the EV biomarker content of ovarian cancer and healthy control samples.