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2019-12-25| Asia-Pacific

Weekly in Asia|Dec-2

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20191216-1222

Takeda, Turnstone Biologics to develop novel viral immunotherapies

On December 20th, Turnstone Biologics, a U.S.-based immunotherapy-developing company, announced a strategic collaboration with Japan-based Takeda Pharmaceutical Company, to develop a series of cancer indications from its proprietary vaccinia virus platform.

Through this collaboration, the two companies will co-develop and co-commercialize Turnstone’s lead product RIVAL-01 and will also conduct collaborative discovery of other novel product candidates for future development. Under the terms of the agreement, Turnstone will receive USD 120 million in upfront cash, near-term milestones and future equity investment.

About RIVAL-01

RIVAL-01 consists of a backbone which encodes three potent immunomodulators, Flt3 ligand,anti-CTLA-4 antibody, and IL-12 cytokine. The three molecules work together to drive immune activity and re-program microenvironment.

 

 

About Takeda Pharmaceutical Company

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company is a global, values-based, R&D-driven biopharmaceutical leader headquartered in Japan that focuses its R&D efforts on four therapeutic areas: oncology, gastroenterology, rare diseases and neuroscience.

 

About Turnstone Biologics

Turnstone Biologics Inc. develops targeted viral immunotherapies to fight cancer. It offers Marabex, atumour-targeted oncolytic vaccine. The company headquarters in New York, U.S.A.

 

Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare will Launch a 100,000 Whole Genome Analysis Project

The “Whole Genome Analysis” project, a large-scale collection of human genomes has been carried out for analysis, but the main objects are limited to genetic genes. The government believes that the development of new diagnostics and treatments, including those effects are not yet clear, requires investigation of whole genomes.

Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare announced on the 20th that in order to help clarify the causes of cancer and intractable diseases and develop treatments, the National Cancer Research Center and other domestic research institutions will launch a survey of all genetic information of 100,000 patients at the beginning of 2021.

About The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare is a cabinet level ministry of the Japanese government that provides regulations for certain goods including agricultural chemicals as well as drugs.

 

HitGen to Develop Novel Class of Drugs with Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation

HitGen Inc. and Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation (MTPC) announced on December 18th that the two companies have entered into a license agreement to develop a novel class of drugs.

The licensed compounds were identified using HitGen’s leading technology platform, which involved screening large DNA encoded libraries, containing more than 400 billion of small molecules with drug-like properties synthesized on chemically diverse scaffolds. A number of novel small molecule leads for an undisclosed target nominated by MTPC were the subject of this license agreement.

Under the terms of agreement, MTPC will pay HitGen assignment fee for license and HitGen will grant exclusive rights to MTPC for further development and commercialization.

About Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma

Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation, was founded in 1678 and had its headquarter settled in Doshomachi, Osaka, a city which later became a leading community of Japan’s pharmaceutical industry.

 

About HitGen Inc.

HitGen is a rapidly growing biotech company with headquarters and custom-built research facilities based in Chengdu, China,

with a subsidiary in the USA. HitGen has established an industry-leading platform for early-stage drug discovery research centred on DNA encoded chemical libraries (DELs).

Qilu’s Avastin Biosimilar QL-1101 Approved in China

On December 17, 2019, Chinese drugmaker Qilu Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. announced the receiving of the first approval for its biosimilar to Avastin (bevacizumab, Roche Holding AG), QL-1101.

QL-1101, to be sold under the trade name Ankada, was approved to treat advanced, metastatic or recurrent non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and metastatic colorectal cancer.ㄉ

In the 2018 European Society for Medical Oncology Asia annual meeting, the biosimilarity of QL1101 with reference bevacizumab (Avastin) was revealed, where a phase 3 clinical trial that enrolled 532 patients with NSCLC was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed biosimilar versus the reference bevacizumab. No unexpected serious AEs were observed, the incidences of treatment-related adverse events (AEs) and immunogenicity were similar between the teo treatment groups, no neutralizing antibodies to bevacizumab were detected.

About QL-1101

QL-1101 is a biosimilar product being developed by Chinese drug developer Qilu Pharmaceutical, which funded the phase 3 clinical trial that enrolled 532 patients with nonsquamous non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The objective of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed biosimilar versus the reference bevacizumab.

 

About Qilu Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.

Established in 1958 and headquartered in Jinan, China, Qilu Pharmaceuticals is a large and comprehensive pharmaceutical company specializing in R&D, manufacture, sales and international trade of both APIs and drug products.

 

Taiwanese Mogul Terry Guo Announces “Live 120” Challenge to Promote Precision Health

Mr. Gou announced that the foundation will work with seven international biotech companies to promote the “100-Year New Medical Project” to alleviate the threats of cancer, infectious diseases, chronic diseases and ageing on humans in this century.

Hon Hai Group’s YongLin Healthcare Foundation founder Kuo Tai-ming announced on December 21, 2020 that the Foundation will work with seven international health technology companies to promote the “New Medical Centennial Project”. This is a project that aims, in the next hundred years, to jointly address the threat of cancer, infectious diseases, chronic diseases and aging.

Mr. Guo’s longevity programme is an attempt to bring out the importance of “precision health”. Pan-Chyr Yang, director of the YongLin Institute of Health, stated that, in terms of market size, precision health is much greater than precision medicine. YongLin will collaborate with seven International Biotechnology Companies, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Guardant Health, Merck, Konica Minolta, NanoString Technologies, Becton, Dickinson and Company and Roche, to strengthen the connection of data science, medical big data, biostatistics, and bioinformatics, so as to transform cancers into chronic diseases.

About YongLin Healthcare Foundation

YongLin Healthcare Foundation was established in 2008 by Terry Gou in memory of his first wife Lin Shu-ru, who died in 2005 from breast cancer, and younger brother Tai-cheng, who died in 2007 from acute myeloid leukemia. Its main goal is to prevent and treat cancer.

 

References:

  1. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-12-19/takeda-makes-bet-on-viral-cancer-killers-in-deal-with-turnstone
  2. https://tchina.kyodonews.net/news/2019/12/8e7eaaeeed6f-10.html
  3. https://www.hitgen.com/enxiandao/index.php?s=/Home/Article/detail/id/488.html
  4. Han B, Li K, Chu T, et al. A multi-center, randomized, double-blind, parallel, two-group phase iii trial on the efficacy and safety of QL1101 or bevacizumab in combination with paclitaxel and carboplatin in first-line treatment of non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer. Presented at: European Society for Medical Oncology Asia 2018 Congress; November 23-25, 2018; Singapore. Abstract 396O.
  5. https://www.centerforbiosimilars.com/news/ql1101-shows-similarity-to-reference-bevacizumab-in-nsclc-in-phase-3-trial
  6. https://www.bnext.com.tw/article/56000/terry-kuo-precision-health-plan

 

 

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