Eyes on Asia: Eisai $1.5bn pact, OcuMension & Alcon, TYK IPO and more

Eisai sows the SEED

Japan’s Eisai Pharma formed a collaboration with SEED, a Pennsylvania biotech, to develop molecular glues for targeted protein degradation of disease-causing proteins.

SEED is eligible to receive up to $1.5 billion in milestones plus royalties. SEED will lead the preclinical discovery for specified targets, some of them neurological. Eisai will have exclusive rights to develop and commercialize compounds derived from this collaboration.

Eisai is also leading a Series A-3 financing for SEED with a first close of $24 million from investors. A second closing of unspecified size will take place later this year.

OcuMension and Alcon

Shanghai OcuMension acquired Chinese rights to a portfolio of dry eye treatments from Alcon in exchange for a 16.7% stake in OcuMension’s shares.

The shares, which are worth about $110 million, will make Alcon one of OcuMension’s largest shareholders. Each company will also grant the other company a right of first negotiation over future products.

OcuMension is an ophthalmic pharmaceutical company with a portfolio of 25 pharmaceutical assets. Alcon is a global company focused on offering eye care products.

TYK IPO

TYK Medicines is staging a Hong Kong IPO that will raise $74 million to support its portfolio of small molecule cancer drugs.

TYK is developing 11 drug candidates (including its core product TY-9591), six clinical-stage products and four preclinical or early-stage clinical development products. One year ago, TY-9591 started a pivotal Phase II trial as a first-line treatment of EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer with brain metastases.

TY-9591 was designed to improve the efficacy of AstraZeneca’s Tagrisso (osimertinib), and it will be compared to osimertinib in the trial. TYK Medicines is headquartered in Huzhou, Zhejiang province China.

Axiom incubates Series B

Proto Axiom, an Australian biomedical incubator, announced a $20 million first close of a Series B round that is expected to raise $30 million eventually.

Proto Axiom describes itself as a holistic enterprise that offers technical oversight, administrative support, future financing and hands-on research assistance. Its aims to develop Australian biopharma technology from its Sydney base.

With the first closing of the Series B and the $15 million Series A, Proto Axiom has a valuation of $90 million.

Merck KGaA and NSG

The Life Science business of Merck KGaA Singapore partnered with NSG BioLabs, a Singapore provider of biotech co-working laboratory and office space, to provide resources to biotech start-ups and improve the R&D capabilities of the site’s tenants.

The collaboration plans to offer guidance, mentorship, and access to expertise to startups. Since 2019, NSG BioLabs has housed innovators who are developing products for precision medicine, nucleic acids, AI-enabled drug discovery and synthetic biology.

NSG BioLabs claims to have helped over 40 companies, including several multi-billion-dollar multinationals, which have raised nearly $400 million. 

Visen’s hypoparathyroidism therapy

Shanghai Visen Pharmaceuticals reported positive data from a China Phase III trial of its hypoparathyroidism therapy.

In the 26-week trial, 77.6% of patients treated with palopegteriparatide, a parathyroid, met the primary endpoint compared to none in the placebo. Palopegteriparatide (TransCon PTH) is an investigational prodrug of PTH (1-34), administered once daily. Its sustained release of active PTH is designed to provide PTH levels in the physiological range for 24 hours/day. Visen, a biopharma focused on endocrine diseases, acquired China rights to the drug from Ascendis Pharma of Copenhagen.

Ascentage and MDS

Suzhou Ascentage Pharma has been cleared to start China Phase III trials of lisaftoclax (APG-2575) as a first-line treatment of newly-diagnosed patients with higher-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS).

Lisaftoclax will be administered in combination with azacitidine (AZA). Lisaftoclax is a novel, oral Bcl-2 selective inhibitor that is designed to block the antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2, restoring the normal apoptosis process in cancer cells. The approval is the fourth Phase III trial for the candidate in China.

Biosyngen Epstein-Barr-Virus-specific

Biosyngen, a Singapore-Guangzhou cell therapy company, has been approved to start a pivotal US Phase II trial of its Epstein-Barr-Virus-specific CAR-T cell therapy.

The trial will enroll patients with relapsed/metastatic EBV-positive nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Biosyngen said BRG01 will be the first cell therapy to begin Phase II trials in both the US and China for the indication. BRG01 is also unusual because it is a cell therapy that targets a solid tumor.

Patients were enrolled in a Phase I trial in the US and China earlier this year, and they have received a single BRG01 infusion.

Vimgreen Parkinson’s

Hangzhou Vimgreen Pharma has enrolled 150 Parkinson’s Disease patients in a China Phase II trial of VG081821AC, a novel adenosine A2A receptor (A2AR) antagonist. The candidate also functions as an inverse A2AR agonist.

150 participants with early-to-mid stage Parkinson's disease were randomized into one of three cohorts: high-dose, low-dose and placebo at a ratio of 1:1:1.

Vimgreen develops drugs that are based on the modulation of adenosine signaling. Most Parkinson’s therapies use dopamine to treat the symptoms of disease, but Vimgreen’s candidate aims to avoid, decrease or delay motor complications in early-stage PD.