In vitro diagnostics company Gaugene Biotechnology Ltd. has secured more than ¥100 million (US$14.8 million) in a series B financing to develop new products and technologies, as well as expand to new markets. The financing was led by Fortune Venture Capital Co. Ltd., with participation by Tao Capital, Guangdong Hybribio Biotech Co. Ltd., Qiming Venture Partners, and others.
Genuine Biotech Co. Ltd.’s azvudine has been granted conditional approval by China’s NMPA for the treatment of COVID-19. The drug, first granted conditional approval from the NMPA to treat HIV-1-infected adults with high viral loads in July 2021, is the first domestically developed oral medicine approved to treat COVID-19 in China and was approved just 10 days after its application was submitted on July 15.
Genuine Biotech Co. Ltd.’s azvudine has been granted conditional approval by China’s NMPA for the treatment of COVID-19. The drug, first granted conditional approval from the NMPA to treat HIV-1-infected adults with high viral loads in July 2021, is the first domestically developed oral medicine approved to treat COVID-19 in China and was approved just 10 days after its application was submitted on July 15.
Venus Medtech (Hangzhou) Inc. received the green light in China for its transcatheter pulmonic valve replacement (TPVR) system Venusp-Valve. It is a self-expanding TPVR product for the treatment of severe pulmonary regurgitation (≥3+) in patients after a congenital heart defects procedure with native right ventricular outflow tract.
Shanghai Sanyou Medical Co. Ltd. will be working with Implanet SA to get the latter’s Jazz platform for treating spinal pathologies approved and distributed in China. “Through this partnership, Sanyou Medical will be Jazz’s exclusive distributor. We are currently working on obtaining registration in China with the authorities. We will have a better view on the commercial launch timing later this year,” Ludovic Lastennet, CEO and founder of Implanet, told BioWorld.
Megarobo Technologies Ltd. raised $300 million in its series C round financing to develop intelligence and automation solutions for life science companies. The financing was led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management LP, Asia Investment Capital Ltd., and GGV Capital.
The NMPA approved two different surgical robots for marketing, a step forward in growth of a sector that remains underdeveloped in China. One of the robots approved for marketing by the NMPA is from Yuanhua Orthopedic Robotic Ltd. and the other is Suzhou Microport Orthobot Co. Ltd. Both robots are used for total knee arthroplasty (TKA), removing damaged cartilage and bones from the surface of the knee joint and replacing them with artificial implants.
Venus Medtech (Hangzhou) Inc.’s Venusp-Valve, a transcatheter pulmonic valve replacement (TPVR) system, has gained the CE mark in Europe. The system is used to treat moderate to severe pulmonary regurgitation with or without right ventricular outflow tract stenosis. The TPVR provides an alternative for those not eligible for open-chest operations because of the risks such as large trauma, and slow recovery, a spokesperson of Venus Medtech told BioWorld.
An interdisciplinary research team from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University has developed a portable testing device that can detect the COVID-19 virus within 40 minutes.