The recent partnerships on Claudin 18.2-targeting agents between Chinese biotechs and big pharma have brought China innovation to a new phase that Chinese firms can be proud of, an executive from Keymed Biosciences, one of the Chinese biotechs involved in such deals, tells Scrip in an interview.

Public Company Edition: Also, Johnson & Johnson’s consumer health spin-out Kenvue filed paperwork to get the ball rolling on an initial public offering. In addition, Geron raised $198m and Madrigal accessed more than $300m after positive trial readouts, but layoffs were revealed by Editas, Elevation, Nabriva and others.

The anti-Claudin-18.2 agent plus chemotherapy improves progression-free survival in inoperable or metastatic stomach cancer, following a similar Phase III readout in November.

Join our China-based content team for this latest Chinese-language podcast episode discussing selected hot topics impacting the biopharma industry in China, including a homegrown COVID-19 antiviral approval, ADC deals and cross-strait tensions and their impact on the biotech sector.