Deals and Financings

• Amgen agreed to pay $2.7 billion for a 20% stake in Beijing's BeiGene; BeiGene will develop and market 23 of Amgen's novel cancer candidates in China;
• SinoMab of Hong Kong will raise up to $223 million in a Hong Kong IPO to support its mAbs and immunotherapy drugs for autoimmune diseases and cancer;
• I-Mab, a Shanghai biopharma, filed for a $100 million IPO on NASDAQ to develop 11 biologics for oncology and inflammatory indications;
• Ascentage Pharma of Suzhou rose as much as 57% in its first day of trading following a $53 million IPO Hong Kong IPO;
• Denovo Biopharma, a San Diego-Beijing company, closed a $42.6 million B round to support its biomarker-driven drug development operations;
• Aesthetic Medical International, a Shenzhen company offering aesthetics services, completed a $30 million IPO on NASDAQ;
• QnQuality Pharma of Shanghai-Seattle raised $15 million in a Series A funding to develop first-in-class drugs that treat side-effects of oncotherapy;
• Jiangsu QYuns will out-license ex-China rights for its portfolio of six autoimmune disease mAb candidates to Seneca Biopharma of Maryland;
• Yixi Biotech of Nanjing completed an angel round of several million dollars to support its intestinal microbial drugs, including a post-chemotherapy product;

Trials and Approvals

• Ansun Biopharma, a San Diego anti-infectives company, said its novel treatment for hospitalized influenza patients was approved to conduct two China clinical trials;
• Visen Pharma of Shanghai was approved to start a China Phase III trial for a long-acting human growth hormone;
• Terns Pharma, a Shanghai-San Francisco biopharma, reported its NASH treatment was granted Fast Track Designation by the US FDA.

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Related article: Week in Review: Suzhou's Ascentage Pharma Stages $53 Million IPO in Hong Kong

Oct 26, 2019

Deals and Financings

• Ascentage Pharma of Suzhou completed a $53 million Hong Kong IPO at an $890 market capitalization to develop cancer therapeutics;
• Fountain Medical, a global clinical CRO headquartered in Beijing, raised $62 million in a Series D financing;
• NeuroRx of Philadelphia signed a $95 million funding agreement with GEM Global Yield to support US/China clinical trials of its suicidal depression therapy;
• 3SBio participated in Verseau's $50 million initial financing and acquired China rights to several of the Boston-area company's macrophage cancer immunotherapy candidates;
• Taiwan Liposome Company completed a $27.3 million secondary offering to advance its nanomedicine candidates for pain management, ophthalmology and oncology;
• Exegenesis Bio, a Philadelphia gene therapy company, raised over $10 million in initial funding from China investors;
• Brii Biosciences, a US-China biopharma, in-licensed rights to develop three novel anti-infectives in China from Qpex Biopharma of San Diego;
• Milu Labs of Philadelphia signed an MOU with Thermo Fisher to develop a China non-invasive diagnostic to test for adverse pregnancy problems;
• NovoCodex Biopharma of Shanghai acquired China rights to an antibody drug conjugate aimed at CD70 positive cancers from San Diego's Ambrx;
• New Horizon Health of Beijing will partner with Prenetics to market ColoClear, a non-invasive colorectal cancer test, in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia

Company News

• WuXi Biologics will build a facility in Ireland for an innovative vaccine developed by an unnamed global company expected to generate $3 billion in revenues over 20 years;
• Germany's Merck opened its Shanghai Innovation Hub, announcing that it will offer $14 million in seed money to innovative China startups;

Trials and Approvals

• HighTide Therapeutics, a Shenzhen-Maryland biopharma, reported it has completed enrollment in a US Phase IIa trial of its novel NASH treatment.

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