Tsinghua University Holdings (TUS) of Beijing will invest $276 million to build a new biohub in the UK's Cambridge Science Park (see story). The biohub will be a joint venture between TUS and Trinity College, Cambridge, the owner of the park. The money will build five new buildings, comprising 350,000 square feet. This includes a state-of-the-art biohub, which will provide labs and offices for early stage companies working on a wide range of healthcare technologies, including non-invasive diagnostics, new drugs, novel surgical techniques and new home-monitoring technologies.  

Jing Medicine Technology (Shanghai) will collaborate with ShanghaiTech University in a $100 million partnership to discover and develop novel small molecule cancer drugs (see story). Jing Medicine will own global development and commercialization rights to the candidates, while ShanghaiTech University will receive upfront and milestone payments plus royalties. Initially, the partnership will focus on novel IP-protected compounds from a Ligand-directed Protein Degradation Platform, developed by Professor Biao Jiang.  

Beijing InnoCare Pharma raised $55 million in a funding round led by Vivo Capital and joined by CCB Capital (see story). InnoCare is developing a portfolio of novel drugs for cancer and autoimmune diseases, using a combination of in-licensing and internal research. The company hopes its candidates, which target both China and global markets, will prove to be either first-in-class or best-in-class. InnoCare expects to release "landmark" clinical trial results this year.  

China's GeneScience Pharma was a new investor in Rani Therapeutics' latest $53 million fundraising (see story). Rani, a Bay Area company, is developing pills that replace injectible delivery mechanisms to treat chronic diseases such as diabetes and arthritis. GeneScience hinted at a future tie-up between the two companies, though no agreement was announced. Rani will use the capital to build a manufacturing facility to supply products for clinical trials.  

Cellular Biomedicine (Nasdaq: CBMG), a China-US biopharma, announced a $30.6 million investment from Sailing Capital Overseas (see story). Sailing Capital is a Shanghai-Hong Kong PE investor focused on China cross-border situations. CBMG is developing a CAR-T immunotherapy for cancer indications, which it acquired from Beijing's PLA General Hospital (the 301) in 2015. The immunotherapy is currently being tested in three China clinical trials. CBMG's latest funding brings its cash position to about $60 million.  

Luqa Pharma of Hong Kong closed a $15 million Series B financing round led by Cenova Capital (see story). Luqa, a company that in-licenses dermatology and aesthetic products for China, plans to use the proceeds to expand its China commercial platform and bring its late-stage product portfolio to the market. Founded in 2010, the company specializes in new pharmaceutical and consumer products.  

Roivant Sciences, a Swiss-US in-licensing company, announced a collaboration with ArQule (Nasdaq: ARQL) to develop derazantinib, a pan-FGFR (fibroblast growth factor receptor) inhibitor, in Greater China (see story). Roivant will make an upfront payment to ArQule of $3 million and pay $2.5 million in development milestones within the first year. ArQule will be eligible for regulatory and commercial milestones plus royalties on China sales of derazantinib in Greater China. Roivant had not previously been involved with China. 

NetVation DL Medicine, a privately held Chengdu biotech, has entered a two-year research collaboration with Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) (see story). DL Medicine is a startup financed by HitGen, a company that has formed several drug discovery collaborations with multinational pharmas, and Anlong, a healthcare fund backed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. DL Medicine will provide drug discovery services to Pfizer. Although terms of the agreement were not disclosed, the companies did say Pfizer has taken a financial stake in DL Medicine.  

Zhejiang Haichang Biotech will take over development of a targeted liver cancer treatment from Rexahn Pharma (NYSE:RNN) of Maryland (see story). Haichang will develop a nano-liposomal formulation of RX-0201 using its QTsome™ technology, which is designed to improve cellular uptake of large molecules and target specific organs. Rexahn will stop US clinical trials of RX-0201 (which is in the middle of a Phase II test) because new liver cancer drugs, approved in the last few years, are more effective. Haichang, at its own expense, will develop its updated RX-0201 through proof-of-concept in China.  

China Resources Pharmaceutical Group (HK: 3320)  acquired China rights to a long-acting treatment for prostate cancer developed by Sweden's Xbrane Biopharma (see story). Spherotide is triptorelin, a GnRH analogue, in a parenteral depot formulation. CR Pharma will pay an initial license fee (described as a high single-digit million dollar amount) and unspecified milestones through China market authorization. Xbrane will supply the product while CR Pharma will be responsible forChina clinical trials and other regulatory matters.  

Trials and Approvals

Golden Meditech (HK: 00801) of Hong Kong reported that Cellenkos, its Houston, Texas subsidiary, was granted Good Manufacturing Status by the FDA for a T-Cell processing facility (see story). The facility processes cord blood-derived regulatory T-cells that will be tested as immune system suppressors in several autoimmune diseases. Last year, Golden Meditech formed a partnership with M.D. Anderson Hospital and a private investor to back Cellenkos and its processing facility. Previously, Golden Meditech was involved with China Cord Blood, a cord blood banking company, which it sold for $737 million in 2017.  

Beijing's BeiGene (Nasdaq: BGNE) has launched Vidaza® in China (see story). Vidaza is a nucleoside metabolic inhibitor that is approved in China for patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and chronic myelomonocyte leukemia (CMML). BeiGene acquired rights to Vidaza when it took over Celgene's (Nasdaq: CELG) China sales organization as part of the blockbuster $1.4 billion deal that gave Celgene global rights (ex-China) to BeiGene's PD-1 immunotherapy in 2017.