Asia

When signing a biotech licensing deal in China, experts say that pharma’s patent attorneys need to understand the geopolitical risk of the BIOSECURE Act.
Summit Therapeutics revealed positive Western data last week from a Phase 3 trial of lung cancer candidate ivonescimab. In a flipped geographical clinical trials landscape, what more will be required for Summit and China-based partner Akeso—and other transnational tandems—to secure FDA approval?
A Congressional advisory panel recommends the U.S. government put supportive policies in place for rare disease drug development, such as a finalized platform designation from the FDA and the allowance of novel trial designs for small patient populations.
Novartis will continue to be on the lookout for bolt-on deals below $2 billion, CEO Vas Narasimhan said Tuesday on the pharma’s second quarter earnings call—though major pickups aren’t completely off the table.
IPO
Axiom Biosciences is thinking outside of the box, betting on a public debut in Hong Kong to raise capital and grow into a global company.
The Phase 3 results are the first direct proof-of-concept for an ADC replacing platinum-based chemo in a first-line standard-of-care regimen for non-small cell lung cancer, according to Leerink Partners. The readout also represents the second late-stage win for the Merck and Kelun-Biotech asset, called sac-TMT.
Spero Therapeutics is putting over $1 billion on the line in exchange for rights to develop SP001, an anti-CD40L antibody, for IgG4-related disease. A Phase 2 study is planned for the second quarter of 2027.
Dizal Pharmaceutical’s Zegfrovy is approved in the U.S. for locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. For $600 million upfront, AstraZeneca will gain global rights to advance and commercialize the asset.
GSK and Hansoh Pharmaceutical’s antibody-drug conjugate success validates their partnership, one of the many deals in which Big Pharma has tapped a China company for promising cancer candidates.
In AstraZeneca’s third trip to Asia this year, the pharma secured ex-China rights to a dual inhibitor of PDE3 and PDE4, which in a Phase 2b study significantly improved lung function and lowered symptom burden in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder.
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