A roundup of the latest from Chinese pharma and biotech, including Boehringer Ingelheim’s new Shanghai R&D hub, new HKEX IPO successes for Chinese firms, further progress for Clover’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate, and more.
Boehringer creates Shanghai hub to connect with Chinese R&D groups
https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/boehringer-creates-shanghai-hub-to-connect-chinese-r-d-groups
With China’s domestic biotech scene blossoming, Boehringer has identified the country as a source of programs of interest to its business development and venture funding groups. That thinking led Boehringer to choose Shanghai as the location for an External Innovation Hub designed to connect the company to the Chinese life science sector.
Boehringer thinks its decision to house three units at the site will support such connections. Housing Research Beyond Borders, a unit that explores emerging science and technologies, at the site enables Boehringer to evaluate promising projects underway at Chinese research institutes and biotechs.
Boehringer told Shanghai Daily it will invest €451 million ($509 million) in China over the next five years. However, that figure covers clinical development and the expansion of manufacturing sites as well the sort of research partnerships handled by the new Shanghai site.
Lessons from China: Agency execs discuss impact of COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and its aftermath on pharma
WPP Health’s Claire Gillis, international CEO, and Yi Han, executive vice president of WG Market Access, have had front-row seats to COVID-19 in China. Gillis travels frequently to China for WPP, while Han splits his time between Shanghai and the U.S. Both worked throughout the pandemic with pharma clients and agency teams in China, and more recently have tackled reopening issues.
Ophthalmic drugs, cancer cell therapies attract $340M+ on two HKEX biotech debuts
https://endpts.com/ophthalmic-drugs-cancer-cell-therapies-attract-340m-on-two-hkex-biotech-debuts/
Ocumension Therapeutics and Immunotech Biopharm both traded up after making their public debuts on the HKEX’s busiest IPO day of the year so far, with seven stocks getting listed. The former raised close to $200 million while the latter took home $141 million.
CEPI expands partnership with Clover Biopharmaceuticals to rapidly advance development and manufacture of COVID-19 vaccine candidate
CEPI, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, today announced the expansion of its partnership with Sichuan Clover Biopharmaceuticals, Inc (China) (“Clover”) to rapidly advance the development and manufacture of Clover’s protein-based COVID-19 S-Trimer vaccine candidate, which is based on Clover’s proprietary Trimer-Tag© vaccine technology platform.
Chinese Biotech Startup Harbour BioMed Secures $102.8M In Series C Round
Harbour BioMed, a Shanghai-based biotechnology company focusing on cancer screening, today announced completion of its US$102.8 Million series C round financing to accelerate development of its growing portfolio of next generation biologics targeting cancer, immunologic diseases, and COVID-19.
AI-Driven Biotech Company neoX Raises $10M Pre-A Round
https://www.chinamoneynetwork.com/2020/07/06/ai-driven-biotech-company-neox-raises-10m-pre-a-round
Beijing-based neoX Biotech today announced the completion of a US$10 million pre-A round financing co-led by Vision Plus Capital and Sequoia Capital China. Existing investor Morningside Venture Capital also participated.
Turning Point Therapeutics and Zai Lab Announce Exclusive License Agreement for Repotrectinib in Greater China
Turning Point Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: TPTX), a precision oncology company developing next-generation therapies that target genetic drivers of cancer, and Zai Lab (NASDAQ: ZLAB), an innovative commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, today announced an exclusive license agreement for the development and commercialization of Turning Point’s lead drug candidate, repotrectinib, in Greater China, which includes mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.
Photocure’s Partner Asieris Received China NMPA’s Approval to Start a Global Phase III Clinical Trial for APL-1702 (Cevira)
Asieris Pharmaceuticals (Asieris), a China-based biotech company with global aspirations to discover, develop and commercialize innovative drugs for the treatment of genitourinary tumors and related diseases, announced today it has received Clinical Trial Approval (CTA) from China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) for the global, multi-centered Phase III clinical trial of its photodynamic drug-device combination product, APL-1702 (Cevira®), which is being developed for the non-surgical treatment of high-grade cervical dysplasia (HSIL).
