Insanity has often been defined as doing the same thing and expecting different results, and Japan seems to be trapped in that rut largely because it can’t seem to do innovation differently, said speakers at the BioJapan 2023 meeting held Oct. 11 in Yokohama, Japan.
Japan’s economy has remained stagnant for the last few decades, and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has heralded the biotech industry as a strategic industry to attract global partners, which was also one of the expectations for the BioJapan 2023 conference held Oct. 10-12 in Yokohama, drawing attendees from more than 37 countries and was the first live biotech industry event that welcomed foreigners since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Precision cancer biotech Abion Inc. announced a positive interim phase II readout for ABN-401, its novel c-mesenchymal-epithelial transition (c-MET)-targeting tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), lighting a runway to its next trial as a combination regimen.
In a study published in Nature on Oct. 11, coinciding with the beginning of IDWeek 2023 in Boston, researchers from Harvard Medical School described EVEscape, a method for anticipating the movements of SARS‑CoV‑2 by predicting potential mutations likely to escape current vaccines and treatments.
In July 2023, South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy ramped up efforts to kickstart the so-called “Bio Economy 2.0,” the newfound initiative that banks on the biopharmaceutical industry to potentially revitalize the country’s slowing economic and social growth. Highlighting four major areas – biopharmaceuticals, biomaterials, bioenergy and digital technologies – as the four “wheels” to carry the biopharma industry, the new plan underscored the government’s unwavering support for the sector while highlighting its vision to become the “number one bioeconomy” worldwide.
Raising capital has always been a challenge for small to medium biotech firms worldwide, but the economic whiplash and the wider downturn across international markets post-pandemic have pushed Chinese biotechs to make-it-or-break-it scenarios for crossing the IPO threshold, speakers at the Chinabio Partnering Forum 2023 said in Shanghai.
“Why do the top 10 pharmaceutical companies remain in the top 10?” asked Li Chen, founder and CEO of Hua Medicine, to audience members at the Chinabio Partnering Forum in Shanghai on Sept. 20. “[It comes down to] their ability to innovate themselves, but also the capability to acquire technology from partnerships, [to] manufacture and sell in countries like the U.S."
Despite China’s near-frozen startup scene and increasingly cautious foreign investors following the COVID-19 pandemic, multinational pharmaceutical firms continued to scout for innovative up-and-coming Chinese biotechs in Shanghai at Chinabio Partnering Forum 2023 over its two-day run.
New and updated clinical data presented by biopharma firms at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, 2023 World Conference on Lung Cancer, including: Astrazeneca, Daiichi.
Rapidly evolving artificial intelligence (AI) is effectively resetting all biopharmaceutical companies to the figurative starting line, and collaboration is a key strategy to winning the drug discovery race, an AI-based startup founder said at the Global Bio Conference (GBC) 2023.
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