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Dainippon Buys Boston Biomedical To Build On Cancer Strategy

 
• By Jessica Merrill

Japanese pharma Dainippon will gain two clinical-stage novel drugs targeting cancer stem cells and a drug-discovery platform with the acquisition of Boston Biomedical for $200 million upfront and substantial milestones.

Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma Co. plans to acquire the private U.S. biotech Boston Biomedical Inc., making good on a promise to increase its R&D focus on oncology. The Japanese pharma announced the heavily back-end loaded acquisition Feb. 29, agreeing to pay $200 million to Boston Biomedical shareholders upfront and an additional $540 million in development milestones and $1.89 billion in sales milestones if net sales reach $4 billion.

With the acquisition, Dainippon will gain two potential first-in-class drugs targeting cancer stem cells and a drug discovery platform. Both BBI608 and BBI503 are in mid-stage clinical development. The company...

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More from Japan

Japan Reimburses 11 New Drugs But Slashes Price Of Others By Up To 20%

 
• By Lisa Takagi

Japan's NHI program continues to give and take as 11 new drugs are granted reimbursement, while the prices of others - including three ophthalmic therapies - are cut by up to 20% under a Market Expansion Repricing scheme.

Japan Looks To Build Domestic Capacity In New Modalities

 
• By Lisa Takagi

Japan's trade ministry is providing new support to build domestic capacity for new modalities including cell and gene therapies, as part of wider efforts to support the national bioventure ecosystem.

Japan Identifies Drugs ‘In Urgent Need’ Of Development

 
• By Lisa Takagi

Artesunate for malaria, TB drug pretomanid and omadacycline for pneumonia and skin infections are among the drugs identified by Japanese regulatory authorities in urgent need of domestic development.

Japan Pushes Generic Industry Reforms Via New Govt Fund

 
• By Lisa Takagi

Amid ongoing generic drug supply problems, Japan's government is to set up a new fund to support corporate investments geared towards manufacturing and consolidation.

More from Asia

DIA Korea: Medical Turmoil, Global Factors Blunt Korea’s Trial Edge

 
• By Jung Won Shin

DIA Korea hears how multiple domestic and global factors are affecting the environment for clinical trials in South Korea, and what actions may be taken to address this.

India Signals ‘Systemic Changes’ In CGT Regulatory Approach

 
• By Anju Ghangurde

India is pressing ahead with “big shifts” in its regulatory approach for cell and gene therapies. Reduced “layers of review”, tighter internal timelines, upcoming guidelines to facilitate CGT development and reforms in the constitution of expert committees are some of the key changes.

China Plans Clinical Data Protection By Product Category For First Time

 
• By Xu Hu

After almost seven years, China’s NMPA has once again published draft measures for clinical trial data protection, opening these up to public comments. While specific protection periods by drug category are proposed, some clarifications are still needed.