Deals and Financings 

• CStone Pharma (HK: 2616) out-licensed global rights (ex-China) for two immunoncology assets to US-based EQRx in a $1.3 billion agreement (see story). EQRx will own rights to sugemalimab, an anti-PD-L1, and CS1003, an anti-PD-1. CStone will receive $150 million upfront and up to $1.15 billion in milestone payments, plus royalties. In September, CStone sold China commercialization rights for sugemalimab to Pfizer (PFE) in a $480 million deal.   
• CStone Pharma of Suzhou acquired global rights (ex-Korea) in a $363.5 million deal to a novel antibody drug conjugate from LegoChem Biosciences (see story). CStone will pay $10 million upfront and up to $353.5 million in milestones. The candidate, LCB71, targets ROR1, a high-potential ADC target for various forms of leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, plus breast, lung, and ovarian cancers. The companies believe LCB71 has first-in-class/best-in-class potential. 
• LianBio, a Princeton-Shanghai company, raised an impressive $310 million in an oversubscribed crossover financing from a large group of US and China investors (see story). The funding follows LianBio's founding and initial financing provided by Perceptive Advisors. LianBio is focused on bringing novel drugs to China and major Asian markets. In its 21 years of operation, Perceptive has made investments in 150 public and 80 private biopharmas.
• Genecast (Beijing) Technology completed a $149 million Series E financing to develop its second-generation sequencing technology and bioinformatics (see story). Founded in 2014, Genecast has developed a circulating tumor DNA detection technology to provide individualized cancer diagnoses. The E Round was led by China Structural Reform Fund, and joined by Taikang Asset Management, CCB Private Equity Investment Management, Hillhouse Capital’s VC unit GL Ventures, and China Renaissance.  
• AffaMed Therapeutics of Shanghai announced a $103 million agreement to develop two Ocular Therapeutix (OCUL) products in Greater China (see story). The products are Dextenza®, a treatment for postsurgical ocular inflammation and pain, and OTX-TIC, a treatment for elevated intraocular pressure of the eye. In 2019, AffaMed was formed by the CBC Group (formerly C-Bridge Capital), and two weeks ago, CBC merged EverInsight, a company specializing in CNS treatments, into AffaMed.  
• Gracell Bio, a Suzhou CAR-T company, closed a $100 million Series C funding to develop products that address the major problems facing CAR-T therapies: high cost and manufacturing time (see story). The company has developed two technologies, FasTCAR and TruUCAR, which offer next-day manufactured or off-the-shelf CAR-T therapies. The company's latest fundraising was led by Wellington Management Company, OrbiMed, and Morningside Ventures.  
• CASI Pharma (CASI) in-licensed China rights to a novel antibody checkpoint receptor inhibitor from Sweden's BioInvent (OMXS: BINV) in a $95 million deal (see story). BI-1206 is a FcγRIIB inhibitor that is being tested as a treatment for hematological and solid tumors. BioInvent is conducting a Phase I/II trial of BI-1206 in combination with PD-1 therapy Keytruda in solid tumors, and with MabThera in non-Hodgkin lymphoma. CASI will be in charge of BI-1206 commercialization in greater China.
• Zhejiang Zylox Medical Device completed a $45 million C round to support development of its interventional and implantable peripheral vascular medical devices (see story). The round was led by Orbimed and included A-round investor Honghui Capital and B-round investors SDIC Innovation and Zheshang Venture Capital.
• Citrine Medicine, a Shanghai rare disease startup, in-licensed China rights to a marketed treatment for narcolepsy and obstructive sleep apnea from Bioprojet SCR of Paris (see story). In June, Citrine completed an $80 million Series A round led by Quan Capital to acquire products that address unmet needs for rare diseases. Citrine plans to develop a rare disease ecosystem that includes information, diagnosis, and therapeutics. The company will have exclusive China rights to develop, market and manufacture Bioprojet's Wakix (pitolisant). Citrine was co-founded by Eight Roads, F-Prime Capital, and Vivo Capital.  

Trials and Approvals 

• Aprinoia Therapeutics was approved to start a China Phase III trial of its PET imaging tracer that targets abnormal tau protein aggregates in the brain (see story). 18F-APN-1607 is a new-gen tau tracer designed to recognize tau proteins in their pathological aggregated states, but not normal physiological ones. The Phase III trial will evaluate the ability of 18F-APN-1607 to differentiate patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and other stages of Alzheimer's disease from healthy subjects.
• Reistone Biopharma of Shanghai reported its JAK1 inhibitor met both the primary and secondary endpoints in a China Phase II trial in patients with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis (see story). At week 12, all doses of SHR0302 showed at least a 75% improvement in the Eczema Area Severity Index (EASI75) compared to placebo. Reistone in-licensed the candidate in 2018 from Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine, which backed Reistone at its founding.
• Gmax Biopharm, a Hangzhou GPCR antibody company, dosed the first patient in a Phase Ib trial aimed at treating pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) (see story). The company says GMA301, which is the first antibody to target PAH, is a humanized mAb (IgG4) intended to inhibit endothelin receptor type A (ETa). Gmax said CMA301 demonstrated a half-life of 500-570 hours in its Phase Ia trial, which would permit once-per-month administration. The Phase Ib trial will be a multi-center test conducted in China and the US.  
• Shanghai's Zai Lab (ZLAB) has started a China Phase Ib trial of retifanlimab, an anti-PD1 antibody (see story). The trial is a China arm of the global POD1UM-101 study, which tests retifanlimab as a monotherapy in patients with previously treated, microsatellite instability-high endometrial cancer. In 2019, Zai announced a $77.5 million collaboration with Incyte (INCY) to develop retifanlimab in Greater China.