China will deepen its health care reforms and will focus on enhancing its public health care capacity at the primary care level and at public hospitals, according to resolutions passed at the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in July.
Neurotech startup Synchron Inc. connected its brain implant to Apple’s Vision Pro headset, enabling patients with limited physical mobility to control the device using only their thoughts. Synchron is building an endovascular brain-computer interface designed to help patients with paralysis operate technology like smartphones and computers with their minds.
Tokyo-headquartered Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. said Aug. 1 that it will acquire Boston-based Jnana Therapeutics Inc. through a potential $1.125 billion M&A deal. Under the terms, Otsuka will work to close the transaction by the third quarter of 2024, with $800 million paid out to Jnana shareholders, along with up to $325 million in additional development and regulatory milestones payments.
Immunotherapy-focused biotech company LTZ Therapetics Inc. raised $20 million in a series A round that will advance development of its myeloid engager pipeline to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases. Proceeds from the funds will accelerate development of lead asset LTZ-301, which is expected to enter the clinic in early 2025, LTZ founder and CEO Robert Li told BioWorld.
Radiopharmaceutical company Telix Pharmaceuticals Ltd. received a U.S. FDA refusal to file letter for its BLA seeking approval of renal cancer imaging agent TLX250-CDx (89Zr-DFO-girentuximab) for clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC).
Ideaya Biosciences Inc. bought global rights to Biocytogen Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd.’s cancer-targeting bispecific antibody-drug conjugate (bsADC) program in a deal reaching up to $406.5 million. Announced July 31, San Francisco-based Ideaya agreed to license-in global rights to Biocytogen’s B7H3/PTK7 bispecific ADC program with topoisomerase-I (TOP1) payload to develop as either a monotherapy or combination therapy for solid tumors.
Instil Bio Inc. plans re-energize the company by in-licensing the development and commercial rights to antibodies outside of China from Shanghai-based Immuneonco Biopharmaceuticals Inc. In return, Immuneonco is getting an undisclosed up-front payment and the chance for near-term payments of up to $50 million.
Radiopharm Theranostics Ltd. said it plans to list on Nasdaq by the end of 2024. The company had earlier announced plans to list in February 2023, but it delayed the listing due to market conditions.
Ensho Therapeutics Inc. launched in July after licensing a pipeline of four oral α4β7 inhibitors for inflammatory and gastrointestinal disorders, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), from EA Pharma Co. Ltd. “Millions of people worldwide are living with IBD,” Ensho founder, president and executive chair Neena Bitritto-Garg recently told BioWorld, “and while there are a number of approved medications to address the symptoms of IBD, it remains a difficult-to-treat disease with high relapse rates for a considerable proportion of patients.”
Triastek Inc., of Nanjing, China, scored a potential $1.2 billion collaboration and platform technology license deal with Biontech SE to manufacture oral RNA therapeutics with 3D printing technology.