Hengrui, BMS deal watershed moment for China biotech
The recent multibillion-dollar licensing alliance between Bristol Myers Squibb Co. and Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd is not an outlier, but rather the clearest sign yet that China’s biotech industry has entered a new phase of global influence.

Hengrui, BMS deal watershed moment for China biotech
The recent multibillion-dollar licensing alliance between Bristol Myers Squibb Co. and Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd is not an outlier, but rather the clearest sign yet that China’s biotech industry has entered a new phase of global influence.
China’s new IIT rules expected to wipe out ‘gray market’
New regulations tighten regulatory oversight of China’s investigator-initiated trials (IITs) but legitimize the pathway that will be open to other modalities beyond cell and gene therapies.
Daewoong takes over Turn Bio’s longevity platform from Hanall
Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. announced after South Korean market hours May 21 that it gained successive rights to Turn Biotechnologies Inc.’s mRNA-based cellular rejuvenation platform from Hanall Biopharma Co. Ltd.
News in brief
BioWorld Asia briefs for May 26, 2026
Tennor’s $80M Hong Kong IPO to fund antibacterial drug pipeline
Antimicrobial-focused Tennor Therapeutics Ltd. will debut in Hong Kong May 22, having priced a HK$626.84 million (US$80 million) IPO. The Suzhou, China-based biotech is waiting on China’s National Medical Products Administration approval of lead asset rifasutenizol (TNP-2198), which has potential to become the first targeted combination regimen to treat H. pylori infection.
AI, remote care drive new models for Australian medtech
Artificial intelligence, remote monitoring and need-based innovation are beginning to reshape Australia’s medtech sector’s devices, as well as the way health care itself is delivered, according to speakers at the 2026 Ausmedtech conference in Perth May 19-20.
Researchers identify innate immune barrier against melanoma
Australian researchers have identified a previously overlooked population of immune cells in the skin that physically restrain melanoma growth by engulfing live melanoma cells, and the discovery could reshape thinking around macrophage-targeted cancer therapies and innate immunity in oncology.

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The opioid crisis may not be front and center anymore, but it’s raging still. Elysium Therapeutics Inc. CEO Greg Sturmer talks about his firm’s candidate for a solution to the medical and societal problem.

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Analysis and data insight

Biopharma deal and M&A values soar in early 2026
Deals and M&A
Biopharma deal value through the first four months of 2026 reached $92.98 billion, outpacing every recent year and running well ahead of 2025’s strong $79.82 billion over the same period. January and February each cleared $30 billion, while March and April totaled $18.05 billion and $13.3 billion,...
Life sciences ‘sweet’ opportunity in US-China talks
Medical technology
Of all the issues that could be on the table at the talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and China President Xi Jinping, the life sciences sector is the “sweet spot” for collaboration between the two countries in a way that would benefit the world, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said in a Brookings...
Bundibugyo is harsh reminder of need for broad vaccine strategies
Infection
On Sunday, May 17th, 2026, the World Health Organization classified the ongoing Bundibugyo ebolavirus outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). The rapid escalation to PHEIC is due to several factors. Given the high number of...
Kailera's record IPO headlines strong April for biopharma financings
Financings
Biopharma financing activity is continuing its rebound in early 2026 compared to the past several years. Total funding reached $38.66 billion in the first four months of 2026, more than doubling 2025’s $15.85 billion in the same period and also exceeding 2022 and 2023. While still below the peak...

Financings

Degron closes $40M series A to advance molecular glue degraders
Cancer
Degron Therapeutics Inc. closed a $40 million series A extension round that will see the company advance its molecular glue degraders targeting previously undruggable or insufficiently drugged proteins.

Australia

APAC monitors hantavirus as Singapore isolates 2 from cruise ship
Regulatory
Singapore’s Communicable Diseases Agency on May 7 said that it isolated two residents for hantavirus testing after the individuals disembarked from an Atlantic cruise ship on May 2 and May 6, respectively. The measure comes in response to the cluster of cases from the cruise ship, MV Hondius, that...

USTR calls out trade partners for Rx, med-tech pricing policies
Regulatory
For the first time in 13 years, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) singled out one of the U.S. trading partners as the worst of the worst when it named Vietnam as a Priority Foreign Country (PFC) in its newly released Special 301 Report.
Cochlear’s 39% stock plunge resets ‘defensive growth’ narrative
Analysis and data insight
Shares in Aussie hearing implant maker Cochlear Ltd. plummeted nearly 39% April 22 after the company slashed fiscal 2026 earnings guidance and warned that weaker-than-expected demand in developed markets was exposing a more cyclical and discretionary side to its business than investors had assumed.

China

Vincentage’s oral GLP-1 meets phase III obesity endpoints
Clinical
Vincentage Pharma Co. Ltd.’s once-daily oral small-molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist, VCT-220, met the primary endpoints in a pivotal phase III trial in overweight or obese patients in China. Based on the top-line data, the Chengdu, China-based company plans to submit an NDA for chronic weight...
Multiple appearances on Priority Watch List leading to action?
Medical technology
It’s a sure bet when the U.S. Trade Representative releases its annual Special 301 Report that Chile, China, India, Indonesia, Russia and Venezuela will be on the Priority Watch List. The 2026 report was no exception.
Bio Korea 2026: US policy risks shift to execution framework
Analysis and data insight
Regulatory uncertainty that dominated the life science sector in 2025 is transitioning into an execution framework for biotechnology companies, provided companies can tailor regulatory strategies early, and across the entire development cycle.
How to Summit up? Dis-Harmoni on ivonescimab NSCLC phase III
Clinical
Wall Street pundits were divided about the likely fate of ivonescimab, Summit Therapeutics Inc.’s bispecific antibody partnered with Akeso Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Hong Kong, and undergoing phase III testing in first-line squamous non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Akeso sets durability bar as immuno-oncology 2.0 race heats up
Clinical
Akeso Pharmaceuticals Inc. has raised the bar for next-generation immuno-oncology, reporting more than 23 months median overall survival in pancreatic cancer with its PD-1/CTLA-4 bispecific antibody cadonilimab, as emerging competitors begin to post earlier signals across solid tumors at the...

Regulatory

MFDS clears Curocell’s anbal-cel as first homegrown CAR T therapy
Cancer
South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) approved Curocell Inc.’s Rimqarto (anbalcabtagene-autoleucel; anbal-cel) April 29 as the first homegrown CAR T-cell therapy to treat patients with advanced diffuse large B-cell lymphomas.

Newco news

Pilatus PLT-012 takes immunometabolic approach to reprogram TME
Cancer
Pilatus Bio Inc. is working to address a major under-addressed target of current checkpoint inhibitors: metabolic stress within solid tumors. “Traditional immunotherapies release immune ‘brakes,’ but they do not address the underlying metabolic stress in tumors,” Pilatus CEO and cofounder Raven Lin...

New China biotech Syneron chases macrocycle frontier
Financings
Syneron Bio is emerging as one of the most heavily backed new entrants in the macrocyclic peptide space, raising more than $250 million in venture funding and securing a multibillion-dollar deal with Astrazeneca plc as it builds a platform spanning several of the most competitive frontiers in drug...
Excalipoint closes $68.7M seed round for cancer T-cell engagers
Financings
Excalipoint Therapeutics Inc. launched with an oversubscribed $68.7 million seed financing round to advance a portfolio of T-cell engagers for solid tumors, marking one of the largest early stage financings in China biotech history.

Science

Hematopoietic stem cell research points to leukemia’s early roots
Conferences
Hematopoietic stem cell research over the past century has shown that leukemia may be driven by an invisible hand of inflammation. The bone marrow and inflammation, then, may hold the keys to preventing blood cancers, according to John E. Dick’s...
Targetable ‘high-plasticity cell state’ important for cancer progression, drug resistance
Cancer
Cancer cells expand through mutations – but not just through mutations. They also change their behavior in the absence of underlying genetic alterations. Such plasticity helps the cells both adapt to the cellular stress fueled by out-of-control...
Sea anemone venom acts as a senolytic tool against cancer
Aging
The sea anemone Stichodactyla helianthus, which carpets the Caribbean seafloor, may hold the key to eliminating the senescent cells that survive cancer therapy. A collaboration led by Spanish scientists across several international research...
In 2025, autoimmune work notches scientific, economic successes
Deals and M&A
In October, the Nobel Committee awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to Shimon Sakaguchi, Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell for their discoveries in the field of autoimmunity.
Romidepsin offers hope for high-risk neuroblastoma
Cancer
Australian researchers have found a drug combination that can bypass the cellular defenses in neuroblastoma that lead to relapse, and the discovery could lead to better treatment strategies for children whose cancers have stopped responding to...
HIV remission after heterozygous CCR5Δ32 stem cell transplant
Cancer
2025 has been the most challenging year in the efforts to fight HIV since at least the advent of antiretroviral therapy. In a report on “Overcoming disruption, transforming the AIDS response,” released last week ahead of World AIDS Day on Dec. 1,...

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podcast microphone, sound waves on purple background Breakthrough medicines, billion-dollar deals, spectacular clinical successes and crushing failures all play a part in biopharma’s dynamic story. Developers make scientific advancements with the potential to change everything, only to face regulatory conundrums and ever-fluctuating markets. BioWorld tracks key events in the fast-moving sector every business day. Now, the BioWorld Insider podcast lets you hear directly from the movers and shakers whose collective work is changing how we all live. Join us each week for a new conversation.

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