Xynomic Pharma, a US-Shanghai clinical-stage oncology drug developer, acquired exclusive global rights to a 2nd-generation RAF inhibitor from Boehringer Ingelheim (see story). Xynomic, which hopes BI 882370 will become a best-in-class drug, agreed to a $502 million package that includes upfront, milestone and royalty payments. Specific financial details were not disclosed. Formed in 2016 by US-China industry veterans, the company plans to in-license and develop oncology drug candidates for China, the US and the rest of the world.
Japan’s Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma (TSE: 4506) announced a $300 million deal to develop Poxel’s (Euronext: POXEL) novel type 2 diabetes treatment in Japan, China and eleven other SE Asian countries (see story). Poxel, a French biopharma, has completed Phase II testing of Imeglimin, a treatment for mitochondrial dysfunction, in the US, Europe and Japan. Sumitomo plans to begin a Phase III trial in Japan before the end of the year. Japan is expected to be the drug’s second largest global market after the US. The two companies did not estimate China’s market size for Imeglimin.
Annoroad, a Beijing genetics services company, raised $100 million in a Series C financing, led by SAIF Partners and joined by SBCVC, Shenzhen GTJA Investment Group and Ping An Ventures (see story). Founded in 2012, Annoroad makes non-invasive prenatal diagnostic tests and also assists life science companies in their genetic research. The company has formed partnerships with Illumina (Nasdaq: ILMN) for sequencing, Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) for precision medicine and AliCloud (NYSE: BABA), for a cloud-based bioinformatics program called Solar Genomics.
Two China healthcare companies — Tonghua Golden-Horse Pharma (SHZ: 000766) and Golden Meditech Holdings (HK: 0801) — will submit bids in the second round of an auction to acquire I-MED Radiology, an Australian diagnostics service company (see story). The bidding is expected to top $765 million. With nearly 200 clinics across Australia, I-MED is the nation’s largest diagnostic imaging services provider with 18% of the market. In 2016, I-MED reported $467 million in sales and $77 million in EBITDA.
