Samsung Bioepis Co. Ltd. will partner with South Korean biotech Intocell Inc. to develop antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) drugs, continuing the Samsung Group and the wider industry’s hunt for novel ADCs. Under the joint research agreement inked on Dec. 5, the Daejon-based ADC platform technology firm Intocell will supply the Songdo, Incheon-based Samsung Bioepis its linker technology, coined OHPAS, or ortho-hydroxy protected aryl sulfate, upon which Samsung Bioepis will develop ADC drugs for up to five cancer targets.

Abbisko Therapeutics Co. Ltd. has out-licensed China rights to its colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor inhibitor, pimicotinib, to Merck KGaA in a deal worth up to $605.5 million. Pimicotinib is in phase III trials in patients with tenosynovial giant cell tumors in China, the U.S., Canada and Europe.

Following its acquisition of Jounce Therapeutics Inc. for $95.6 million, Concentra Biosciences LLC lodged another proposal to acquire the U.S. and China biotech Lianbio Co. Ltd. The unsolicited and non-binding proposal filed Nov. 30 by San Diego-based Tang Capital Partners LP, Concentra’s parent firm, offered a 100% cash equity acquisition of the Shanghai- and Princeton, N.J.-based Lianbio at $4.30 per share, ringing up a deal worth around $465 million.

Broncus Holding Corp. subsidiary Broncus Hangzhou is acquiring Chinese medical device company Hangzhou Jingliang in the form of an equity transfer agreement for ¥5.4 million (US$758,000). The move will strengthen Broncus’ R&D capabilities in the flexible robotic space and will allow the company to offer pulmonology diagnostics and therapeutic solutions covering the complete product life cycle.

Connect Biopharma Holdings Ltd. has been seeking a partner for its atopic dermatitis candidate rademikibart, and it appears to have found the perfect partner in Simcere Pharmaceutical Group, which gains exclusive rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize rademikibart in China in a deal worth $120 million plus royalties.

Awak Technologies Pte Ltd. gained the U.S. FDA’s breakthrough designation for an artificial intelligence (AI)-based kidney disease progression prediction (KDDP) model on Nov. 27, following its $20 million fundraising that marked one of Singapore’s largest med-tech financings in 2023.

Connect Biopharma Holdings Ltd. has been seeking a partner for its atopic dermatitis candidate rademikibart, and it appears to have found the perfect partner in Simcere Pharmaceutical Group, which gains exclusive rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize rademikibart in China in a deal worth $120 million plus royalties.

The U.S. FDA cleared respiratory imaging technology company 4dmedical Ltd.’s computed tomography lung ventilation analysis software (CT LVAS) that is nearly identical to its X-ray velocimetry technology but uses CT imaging and provides greater access to the four-dimensional imaging technology.