Deals and Financings

Suzhou Ribo Life Science formed a collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim that will apply its siRNA expertise to develop novel treatments for nonalcoholic or metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (NASH/MASH) in a deal that could be worth up to $2 billion (see story). Ribo will receive an upfront payment plus milestones and royalties for developing multi-target candidates. The agreement will include Ribocure AB, a Swedish subsidiary of Ribo Life Science that develops siRNA molecules. Ribocure uses its vertically integrated oligonucleotide research platform to deliver new candidates efficiently. In 2022, it advanced three projects to clinical stage in 20-24 months from concept to implementation. 

Allorion Therapeutics, a Boston-Guangzhou company, has out-licensed global rights (ex-China) for AVZO-021, a potentially best-in-class cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) selective inhibitor, to Avenzo Therapeutics, a San Diego clinical-stage biotech (see story). Allorion will also receive an exclusive option for an additional preclinical Avenzo program, which is expected to be ready for an IND submission in early 2025. Allorion will receive an upfront payment of $40 million and be eligible to receive milestone payments that could total more than $1 billion for the two candidates. 

Suzhou MediLink Therapeutics out-licensed global rights for its pre-clinical c-Mesenchymal epithelial transition factor (c-Met) ADC to Roche in a $1 billion agreement (see story). MediLink will work with Roche's R&D unit, China Innovation Center of Roche, to start a Phase I clinical trial of YL211. After the trial, Roche will responsible for all further development and commercialization globally. MediLink will receive $50 million in upfront and near-term milestone payments and $1 billion of later milestones, plus tiered royalties. Three months ago, MediLink out-licensed global rights for an HER ADC to BioNTech in a $1.1 billion agreement. 

Beijing Avistone Biotech completed a $140 million Series B financing to advance its portfolio of innovative precision medicine oncology candidates (see story). In late 2021, Avistone received a $200 million strategic investment led by Vivo Capital while also merging with Beijing’s Pearl Biotech. The portfolio of the two companies included Avistone's lead drug, a c-Met inhibitor in late-stage clinical development for genetically-defined NSCLC and glioblastoma patients. Avistone in-licensed the drug from Apollomics of California. The new Series B financing was led by SDIC CS Capital and IDG Capital, with Yanchuang Capital and Cathay Capital participating. An existing shareholder, Bain Capital, also made an investment. 

Shanghai JW Therapeutics will collaborate with Boston’s 2seventy bio to start process development and a First-in-Human clinical trial in China of 2seventy’s chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy product for autoimmune diseases (see story). JW Therapeutics will share the cost with 2seventy. It will also have the right to negotiate an exclusive license to develop, manufacture and commercialize the product in Greater China. For its development/trial work, JW will be eligible to receive up to high double digit million dollars in milestones, plus royalty payments on sales outside of Greater China. JW is a cell therapy partnership between Wuxi Apptec and Seattle’s Juno Therapeutics.

Shanghai IASO Biotherapeutics announced an extensive collaboration with Seattle’s Umoja Biopharma to develop off-the-shelf, CAR T-cell gene therapies (see story). IASO Bio will use Umoja’s rapamycin-activated cytokine receptor (RACR™) platform to develop two ex vivo iPSC-derived chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-bearing cell therapies. IASO will be responsible for worldwide development and commercialization of both products. In exchange, Umoja will receive rights to CAR cassettes for two targets to advance two in vivo product candidates. Umoja will be responsible for product development outside of Greater China, and IASO for the Greater China territory. The two companies established their first collaboration in late 2022. 

Novartis acquired the 50% of Shanghai’s SanReno Therapeutics it didn’t already own from the consortium of investors who helped to found the company in 2021 (see story). SanReno, a company developing two late-stage therapies for Immunoglobulin A Nephropathy (IgAN), was formed by Seattle’s Chinook Therapeutics in late 2021 to bring its kidney disease drug candidates to China and Singapore. Chinook, which owned 50% of SanReno, was acquired by Novartis in a $3.5 billion agreement in June of last year. The remaining 50% belonged to SanReno’s founding investors: Pivotal bioVenture Partners China, Frazier Life Sciences, Samsara BioCapital, and Versant Ventures, who capitalized SanReno with an original $40 million round. 

Trials and Approvals

Shanghai Belief BioMed completed dosing the first subject in a China registrational trial of BBM-H803, a gene therapy for hemophilia A developed and produced by Belief BioMed (see story). BBM has already been approved to launch another gene therapy, BBM-H901, an adeno-associated virus (AAV)-based AAV gene therapy, for hemophilia B. In 2022, BBM-H803 was granted Orphan Drug Designation in the US. Currently, there are no adeno-associated virus (AAV)-based gene therapies available in China to treat adults with hemophilia A. 

Disclosure: none.