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.
DUBLIN – Numab Therapeutics AG is banking an equity investment of CHF15 million (US$15.2 million) from its latest Asian partner, Sunshine Guojian Pharmaceutical (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., as part of a broad alliance to develop up to five multispecific antibodies from three programs based on Numab’s Match platform.
HONG KONG – Singapore and U.S.-based Hummingbird Bioscience Pte Ltd. has raised $19 million in a series B financing round. Proceeds will be used to support the discovery of new disease targets and to fuel the work of co-discovery projects that are part of a multitarget collaboration agreement valued at more than $1 billion signed with Amgen Inc. in September.
BEIJING – Suzhou-based Alphamab Oncology Co. Ltd. (HK:9966), which aims to bring the first PD-L1/CTLA4 bispecific antibody to China, saw its share prices jump almost 30% on its debut on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) on Dec. 12, 2019, ending the year on a positive note for the pre-revenue biotech.
BEIJING – While acknowledging that China still needs to play catch up in med-tech innovation, Chinese cardiovascular experts are striving to make breakthroughs in bioabsorable stents and transcatheter heart valves with government-backed research projects underway.
HONG KONG - South Korean biopharmaceutical company Quratis Inc. and Indonesia’s state-run company, Bio Farma PT, have entered a term sheet agreement to develop and commercialize Quratis’ tuberculosis (TB) vaccine, QTP-101, for adults and adolescents. The total amount of the deal is around ₩1.2 trillion (US$1.1 billion), according to the Seoul-based company.
HONG KONG – Rapt Therapeutics Inc., of San Francisco, and Seoul, South Korea-based Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. entered a license agreement for Rapt’s FLX-475 in Asia. FLX-475 is an oral, small-molecule CCR4 antagonist for cancer treatment.
BEIJING – Chinese transcatheter heart valve developer Venus Medtech (Hangzhou) Inc. on Tuesday saw its share prices jump around 20% on its debut on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX), an excellent start for a prerevenue med-tech IPO.
PERTH, Australia – Industry was supportive of most of the changes proposed by Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) for custom-made and 3D-printed devices. However, the comments also indicated that the current regulatory requirements for custom-made devices are not well understood. The agency stressed that increasing use of 3D printing for medical applications is raising questions about the adequacy of the current medical device regulatory framework to mitigate risks to patients.
HONG KONG – Rapt Therapeutics Inc., of San Francisco, and Seoul, South Korea-based Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. entered a license agreement for Rapt’s FLX-475 in Asia. FLX-475 is an oral, small-molecule CCR4 antagonist for cancer treatment.
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