China

Innovent presented data on multiple pipeline assets at ASCO, including promising OS results for its first-in-class anti-PD-1/IL-2α-bias bispecific. The Chinese firm is also continuing to build out its metabolic disease portfolio and consider its partnering strategies, its CEO tells Scrip.

Henlius is investigating the optimum dose for its PD-L1-targeting antibody-drug conjugate HLX43 to support potential first-line use, its CEO explains to Scrip.

After in-licensing a cardiovascular candidate last year, AstraZeneca has signed a strategic drug discovery alliance, which could generate billions of dollars in payments to the Chinese firm.

LTZ Therapeutics and Beijing Sungen Biomedical are among the Chinese biotechs raising new funding, of around $40m each, based on their clinical assets with novel mechanisms of action. While fundings have risen, they remain moderate however.

Pursuing first-in-class molecular glue degraders using undruggable targets could eventually help Degron Therapeutics land sizable asset-based deals, CEO Lily Zou tells Scrip.

Ascentage will share at ASCO new clinical data on its Bcl-2 inhibitor lisaftoclax, part of the Chinese firm's novel pipeline, on which its CEO shared with Scrip plans and strategy, along with some views on the use of RWD in China.

In first confirmatory randomized controlled trial of any CAR-T therapy in solid tumors, CARsgen’s Claudin 18.2-targeting satri-cel reduced risk of death or disease progression by 63% in Chinese patients with gastric/gastroesophageal junction cancer.

Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals is gearing up for what will be 2025's biggest biopharma IPO so far, hoping to raise up to $1.27bn on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. China's top drug maker by pipeline size plans to use part of the proceeds to reboot its overseas clinical trials ambitions.

Join our China-based editors Dexter Yan and Xu Hu in this Chinese-language podcast looking at some of their recent interviews and other key coverage.

InSilico will leapfrog Phase IIb to progress its AI-generated candidate for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis directly into a Phase III trial in China, as it prepares for an IPO in Hong Kong.

Chinese producers of novel vaccines are increasingly pivoting to developing markets overseas in the face of a collapse in their domestic sales.

Despite the ability to initiate clinical trials quickly and having strong manufacturing capacity, Chinese companies are facing multiple challenges in the obesity space.

As biopharma derisks its business with China ‘rebalancing’ strategies, Syngene could convert majority of such pilots into full program contracts amid a challenging FY2025. The CRDMO also expects business discussions pertaining to a newly acquired US biologics site to mature into commercial opportunities.

Two potentially first-in-class molecules signify Zai Lab’s renewed drive for the in-house discovery of drugs that it requires “to be innovative, differentiated and to have the potential to make a big difference for patients,” its global R&D head tells Scrip.

CSPC’s SYS6010, the first monospecific EGFR-targeting antibody-drug conjugate in the clinic for advanced NSCLC, has shown Phase I promise, but could face close competition with another China-originated bispecific.

Akeso explains the circumstances behind the release of preliminary overall survival data from a head-to-head Phase III trial with ivonescimab in lung cancer, which some investors viewed as disappointing.

Novotech's CEO talks about rising interest for trials in regions with “regulatory agility” and “strategic insulation” from geopolitical complexity, especially among emerging and mid-sized biotech sponsors. Operational "reassessment” among some sponsors on exposure to China-based CROs/CRDMOs is another area he discussed.

Akeso’s penpulimab will be the second to hit the US market for nasopharyngeal carcinoma, but the first to win FDA approval for the indication based on clinical findings in US patients.

Over the past few months, Chinese developers of CNS and cardiometabolic therapies have attracted the interest of domestic investors, amid generally modest funding activity.

Arbele has emerged as a global leader in the Cadherin 17 area, not only in clinical progress but also for its “secret recipe” for application in T-cell engagers, its CEO tells Scrip.