Solasia's arsenical drug darinaparsin has received its global-first approval in Japan, for PTCL, in a landmark for the Texan chemist who discovered it back in the 70s and paving the way for wider indications and Asian markets.

Afrigen’s MD, Petro Terblanche, discusses the operational freedom that the WTO intellectual property waiver provides for its COVID-19 vaccine being developed under the wider WHO-backed mRNA technology transfer hub initiative. The executive doesn’t anticipate big pharma pushback but says the alliance will “test the system”, though others believe the waiver in its current form doesn’t count for much.

Astellas subsidiary Xyphos will partner with GO to discover novel antibodies against two glycoprotein targets. SciNeuro picks up abandoned GSK programs in cardiovascular medicine for potential use in the neurodegeneration space.

Taiho will pay Cullinan Oncology up to $405m for their joint venture and lead candidate for a form of lung cancer. Plus deals involving Zhaoke/Visus, AnGes/Eiger, Juniper/Helsinn, Peak Bio and more.