Japan

Sony and Astellas Enter into Collaborative Research Agreement to Discover a Novel ADC Platform for the Oncology Field
TOKYO, May 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony Corporation (President and CEO: Kimio Maki, "Sony") and Astellas Pharma Inc. (TSE: 4503, President and CEO: Naoki Okamura, "Astellas") today announced that they have entered into a collaborative research agreement to discover a novel Antibody-Drug Conjugate (ADC)*1 platform in oncology based on Sony's unique polymeric material, "KIRAVIA™*2 Backbone*3."

Personalis, National Cancer Center Hospital East, and Ono Collaborate to Better Predict Immunotherapy Response for Rectal Cancer
FREMONT, Calif. & KASHIWA, Japan & OSAKA, Japan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Personalis, Inc. (Nasdaq: PSNL), National Cancer Center, and Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. today announced they have entered into a collaborative agreement to examine the efficacy and safety of nivolumab, an immune checkpoint inhibitor, for resectable rectal cancer with mismatch repair deficiency (dMMR).

Health Canada Accepts New Drug Submission for Lecanemab as Treatment for Early Alzheimer’s Disease
TOKYO and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 15, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Eisai Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Tokyo, CEO: Haruo Naito, "Eisai") and Biogen Inc. (Nasdaq: BIIB, Corporate headquarters: Cambridge, Massachusetts, CEO: Christopher A. Viehbacher, "Biogen") announced today that Health Canada has accepted a New Drug Submission (NDS) for lecanemab (brand name in the U.S.: LEQEMBI™), an investigational anti-amyloid beta (Aβ) protofibril* antibody, for the treatment of early Alzheimer’s disease (mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and mild AD dementia) with confirmed amyloid pathology in the brain.

U.S. Food & Drug Administration Grants Priority Review of TAK-755 for the Treatment of Congenital Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (cTTP)
OSAKA, Japan, and CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, May 16, 2023 – Takeda (TSE: 4502/NYSE:TAK) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted Takeda’s Biologics License Application (BLA) for TAK-755, an enzyme replacement therapy for the treatment of congenital thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (cTTP), an ADAMTS13 deficiency disorder. The TAK-755 application was accepted by the FDA on May 16th, and has been granted Priority Review.

Takeda Delivers Strong Revenue and Profit Growth in FY2022; Updated Capital Allocation Policy Reflects Deleveraging Progress and Confidence in Growth Outlook
OSAKA, Japan & CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Takeda (TOKYO:4502/NYSE:TAK) today announced strong financial results for fiscal year 2022 (period ended March 31, 2023), delivering or exceeding management guidance, driven by the performance of its Growth & Launch Products.

Sosei Heptares Operational Highlights and Consolidated Results for the First Quarter 2023
Tokyo, Japan and Cambridge, UK, 12 May 2023 – Sosei Group Corporation (“the Company”; TSE: 4565) provides an update on operational activities and reports its consolidated results for the first quarter ended 31 March 2023. The full report can be found here.

Angelini Pharma and JCR Pharmaceuticals Announce Global Collaboration for the Development and Commercialization of Novel Biologic Therapies in Epilepsy
ROME & ASHIYA, Japan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Angelini Pharma, part of the privately owned Angelini Industries, and JCR Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. (TSE 4552; “JCR”) announced today that they entered into an exclusive global development and commercialization agreement for the development of novel biologic therapies that applies J-Brain Cargo®, blood-brain barrier penetrating technology, for the treatment of epilepsy.

SynCrest Launches CRDMO Service for Peptide-based Therapeutics
FUJISAWA, Japan--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- SynCrest Inc., a peptide and nucleotide CRDMO (Contract Research, Development and Manufacturing Organization) joint venture between Otsuka Chemical Co., Ltd. and Yokogawa Electric Corporation*1, announces its services are now available for pharmaceutical companies and research institutions in Japan, Europe, North America, and South America.

Bliss Biopharmaceutical Enters Into a Clinical Trial Collaboration Agreement With an Option of Strategic Collaboration With Eisai for BB-1701
HANGZHOU, China, May 7, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Bliss Biopharmaceutical (Hangzhou) Co., Ltd, ("BlissBio") a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing differentiated antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) therapeutics, announced a clinical trial collaboration agreement with option for strategic collaboration with Eisai Co., Ltd. ("Eisai"), for BB-1701, eribulin-payload based ADC directed against Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (HER2) for the treatment of cancers.

BrightPath Biotherapeutics and Artisan Bio Announce Research and Licensing Agreement to Accelerate Development of BrightPath’s Novel Allogeneic iPSC Derived Cell Therapy Platform across Multiple Indications
BrightPath Biotherapeutics Co., Ltd. (TYO: 4594), a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on the development of cell therapies derived from invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells, and Artisan Bio. Inc, a precision genome engineering and drug discovery company, today announced they have signed a research and licensing agreement to accelerate BrightPath's next-generation iNKT cell therapies to clinic.






