AstraZeneca Expands Emphasis On China, Already A Key Market

 
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UK pharma will invest $2.5bn in Beijing R&D hub, build a vaccine manufacturing site with BioKangtai, and partner in chronic disease with Syneron and in oncology/immunology with Harbour BioMed.

Korea Needs To Think Bigger On M&As: KHIDI

 

A new report from a domestic institute on South Korea’s biopharma M&A trends shows a pickup in activity, but that this remains relatively weak and small-scale. It calls for broader domestic government support to build expertise, drive innovation and globalization.

How Miltenyi Hopes To Help Shape India’s CGT Landscape

 

Miltenyi’s leadership calls for a streamlined regulatory framework as India gears to scale in cell and gene therapy. Executives from the German group also talked to Scrip about helping advance local capabilities, delivering point-of-care CAR- T cell therapy to hospitals and pricing dynamics.

Amgen’s Research VP On Goldilocks Viscosity, AI’s Hinge Moment

 
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Amgen’s AI model to predict proteins in the “bright Goldilocks zone of viscosity” with over 80% accuracy minus a wet lab experiment holds immense potential, VP Research Haldar said at an event as he spoke about a “hinge moment” for AI in pharma


Eisai Expands Dementia Ecosystem Via EcoNaviSta Acquisition

 
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Move to acquire profitable Tokyo-based venture part of Japanese major's strategy of building a broader ecosystem for dementia detection and care.

MSD’s CIDO Williams: ‘We Must Shorten Technology Adoption Cycles’

 

MSD's chief information & digital officer emphasizes the need for pharma to accelerate technology adoption cycles to ensure drugs reach patients faster. The role of a robust digital backbone for seamless data flow, leadership commitment in digital transformation and an upcoming technology center in Hyderabad are other aspects he discussed.

Asia Deal Watch: Daiichi Sankyo Teams With Nosis On Extrahepatic RNA Therapies

 

Plus deals involving Hyundai/Pharma/Avelos, Yuhan/Boehringer Ingelheim, SciClone/Eisai, Viatris/Nxera/Idorsia, Nxera/Holling and Takeda/BridGene.

Illexcor Stake Gets Zydus Once-Daily Candidate For Sickle Cell Disease

 
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A stake acquisition in US venture Illexcor allows India's Zydus to get in on the ground floor for a potential once-daily sickle cell disease treatment. The candidate showed promising preclinical results in a field that has yielded mixed outcomes for global majors like Novartis, Pfizer and Novo Nordisk


Kelun Wins World’s First TROP2 ADC Approval In Lung Cancer

 

While diverging from partner Merck & Co. in its study dosage of sacituzumab tirumotecan, Kelun has garnered the world’s first approval, in China, for a TROP2-targeting antibody-drug conjugate, for the treatment of lung cancer.

Multiple Factors Behind Accelerating Private Equity Plays In Japan, APAC

 

With two major deals since just the beginning of the year in Japan, private equity groups appear to be ramping up their presence in the country's biopharma sector, amid ongoing activity across the wider APAC region.

Zydus’s Amplitude Acquisition Marks Global Medtech Entry With High Potential In India

 
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Zydus Lifesciences plans to expand global markets for patented products of French orthopedic tech company Amplitude Surgicals which it is acquiring from PE firm PAI Partners and others. Could the European business also serve as a buffer to upheaval in the US amid talks of tariffs?

Is Mittelstand The Missing Piece In India’s Q Quotient?

 
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Can India’s Mittelstand or small and medium enterprises win the quality game and what could help? Sectoral insights from defense and FMCG industries and from other countries like Germany might hold the key for Indian pharma, a panel of experts at a recent event opined.


Sun Sets Up For PD-L1 Play With Checkpoint Acquisition

 

Sun is acquiring Checkpoint Therapeutics, opening up opportunities to build out its strategy in the onco-derm segment with the US firm’s FDA-approved anti-PD-L1 mAb.

TYK’s EGFR Inhibitor Bests Tagrisso In NSCLC Brain Metastases

 

Chinese biotech TYK Medicines says its EGFR inhibitor outperformed AstraZeneca’s same-class blockbuster Tagrisso in a pivotal Phase II trial for first-line use in brain metastases resulting from EGFR mutation-positive non-small cell lung cancer.

India CDMOs Seek To Counter China With New Industry Body, See Europe As Ally

 
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Indian CDMOs could consider collaborating with allies in Europe amid a focused effort via a new industry body to counter existing challenges like China’s manufacturing, regulatory and policy advantages and a shortage of funding and talent in the country even as talk of US tariffs throws a new spoke in the wheel

Chinese First-In-Class Endeavors See Triumphs, Setbacks In Early 2025

 

Following approvals in China, Trinomab and Keymed have become world-first movers in tetanus prophylaxis and seasonal allergic rhinitis, respectively. But Lepu and RDO Pharm have seen their hopes for approval of an EGFR-targeting antibody-drug conjugate and an imaging agent fizzle.


India Pharma Chiefs On Future Manufacturing Networks And Specter Of Tariffs

 

CEOs of top Indian firms discuss how policies and geopolitics could shape future manufacturing networks and also the simmering issue of tariffs. US President Donald Trump has just reiterated plans for reciprocal tariffs at a joint session of Congress.

China Developers Broadening Global TPD Landscape

 
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Multiple Chinese companies are progressing targeted protein degraders, with oncology the dominant indication and two assets already in Phase III for breast cancer.

Novartis Joins MRGPRX2 Race Through $800m+ Kyorin Deal

 
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Swiss major gains global rights to preclinical asset as it joins race for MRGPRX2 antagonists in urticaria, where some same-class rivals are already in Phase II.

Wockhardt On Superbug Buster Zaynich, US Tariff Talk, Europe Manufacture

 
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In a video interview, Wockhardt chairman Habil Khorakiwala talks about global commercial and manufacturing plans for superbug-busting novel antibiotics and developments such as proposed US tariffs and the Windsor framework that could impact its markets.