Everest Medicines Ltd. is in-licensing Kezar Life Sciences Inc.’s phase II autoimmune disease candidate, zetomipzomib in a deal worth $132 million for greater China, South Korea and southeast Asia rights. Kezar’s lead molecule zetomipzomib (KZR-616) is a first-in-class, selective immunoproteasome inhibitor with broad therapeutic potential across multiple autoimmune diseases.
Despite China’s near-frozen startup scene and increasingly cautious foreign investors following the COVID-19 pandemic, multinational pharmaceutical firms continued to scout for innovative up-and-coming Chinese biotechs in Shanghai at Chinabio Partnering Forum 2023 over its two-day run.
Wuhan YZY Biopharma Co. Ltd. made its debut on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, raising HK$121 million (US$15.48 million) in its IPO on Sept. 22, with shares (HKEX:02496) opening at the lower end of its range at HK$16 per share and ending the day at HK$16.60, a rise of 3.75%.
Everest Medicines Ltd. is in-licensing Kezar Life Sciences Inc.’s phase II autoimmune disease candidate, zetomipzomib in a deal worth $132 million for greater China, South Korea and southeast Asia rights. Kezar’s lead molecule zetomipzomib (KZR-616) is a first-in-class, selective immunoproteasome inhibitor with broad therapeutic potential across multiple autoimmune diseases.
Raising capital has always been a challenge for small to medium biotech firms worldwide, but the economic whiplash and the wider downturn across international markets post-pandemic have pushed Chinese biotechs to make-it-or-break-it scenarios for crossing the IPO threshold, speakers at the Chinabio Partnering Forum 2023 said in Shanghai.
“Why do the top 10 pharmaceutical companies remain in the top 10?” asked Li Chen, founder and CEO of Hua Medicine, to audience members at the Chinabio Partnering Forum in Shanghai on Sept. 20. “[It comes down to] their ability to innovate themselves, but also the capability to acquire technology from partnerships, [to] manufacture and sell in countries like the U.S."
Innovent Biologics Inc. announced a HKD$2.37 billion (US$306 million) placement on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) to advance its late-stage pipeline, including mazdutide, a GLP-1R/GCGR dual agonist for diabetes and obesity. The company plans to offer 68 million new shares priced at HKD$34.92, which represents an 8.8% discount to the previous closing price of HKD$38.30 per share, the company said in a filing on the HKEX. Morgan Stanley is the sole placing agent.
China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) has largely completed its development of overarching regulations for medical devices and is now drilling down into more granular matter, such as a guidance on assessments of benefits and risks for medical devices. Grace Fu Palma, CEO of China Med Device LLC, told BioWorld that this new guidance is a much more detailed version of the 2019 edition, but added that China’s anticorruption efforts will be ramped up with an eye toward health care, just one of several current and impending developments of interest in this massive market.
Hasten Biopharmaceutical Co. Ltd. has licensed greater China rights to Lib Therapeutics Inc.’s next-generation PCSK9 inhibitor lerodalcibep in a deal worth up to $325 million.
After raising HKD$320 million (US$40.8 million) in its IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange last week, Immuneonco Biopharmaceuticals Co. Ltd.’s stock has continued to rise, and analysts are expecting the Hong Kong market to pick up after a slack start to the year.
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