Medical News
On September 29, Hengrui Pharma announced that its subsidiaries, Suzhou Shengdiya Biopharmaceuticals Co., Ltd., Shanghai Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd., and Shanghai Shengdi Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd., received the "Drug Clinical Trial Approval Notice" issued by the National Medical Products Administration for SHR-7787 Injection, SHR-4849 Injection, Bevacizumab Injection, and Adebrelimab Injection, and will initiate clinical trials soon. SHR-7787 Injection is a Class 1 therapeutic biologic product indicated for malignant solid tumors; SHR-4849 Injection is an antibody-drug conjugate independently developed by the company targeting DLL3, intended for the treatment of advanced malignant solid tumors; Bevacizumab is a humanized anti-VEGF monoclonal antibody; Adebrelimab Injection is a humanized anti-PD-L1 monoclonal antibody used for adult non-small cell lung cancer.On September 30, Johnson & Johnson announced that the U.S. FDA had approved its anti-IL-23 antibody Tremfya (guselkumab) for the treatment of pediatric patients aged 6 years and older, weighing no less than 40 kilograms, with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis (PsO) or active psoriatic arthritis (PsA). PsO patients need to be eligible for systemic therapy or phototherapy. According to the press release, this approval makes Tremfya the first IL-23 inhibitor approved for treating the aforementioned pediatric patient population.On September 29, Eisai and Biogen announced that the humanized anti-soluble aggregated amyloid-beta (Aβ) monoclonal antibody lecanemab (brand name: Leqembi®), administered intravenously (IV) once every four weeks as a maintenance dose regimen, has been approved by China's National Medical Products Administration (NMPA).On September 28, the CDE website announced that the "Astem-101 Human Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cell (hUC-MSCs) Injection" submitted by Shanghai Angsheng Biomedical Technology Co., Ltd. has officially received implied permission for clinical trials. This is China's first stem cell drug to receive dual registration from the National Health Commission and the drug regulatory authority. Astem-101 will target the treatment of "Type 2 diabetes with moderate to severe erectile dysfunction that remains unresponsive to all available treatments."Investment and Financing in Pharmaceuticals
On September 29, Genmab announced that it had reached an acquisition agreement with Merus to acquire all of the latter’s shares at a price of $97 per share, for a total amount of approximately $8 billion. The transaction is expected to be completed in early Q1 2026. Merus currently has a market value of $5.2 billion on Nasdaq. Public information shows that Merus is a Dutch biotechnology company focused on developing bispecific antibody drugs. Its main pipeline products include HER3/HER2 bispecific antibody Zenocutuzumab (MCLA-128), LGR5/EGFR bispecific antibody Petosemtamab (MCLA-158), EGFR/c-Met bispecific antibody MCLA-129, PD-1/CD3 bispecific antibody ONO-4685, and PD-1/TGFBR2 bispecific antibody INCA33890. Among these, Zenocutuzumab (brand name: Bizengri) was approved for marketing in the United States in December 2024 for adult patients with advanced, unresectable, or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) carrying NRG1 gene fusions whose disease progressed during or after prior systemic therapy, as well as for adult patients with pancreatic cancer.Technology-Driven Drug ResearchOn September 25, researchers from the National Institute on Aging published a research paper titled "A distinct population of CD8⁺ T cells expressing CD39 and CD73 accumulates with age and supports cancer progression" in the Nature Aging, a sub-journal of Nature. The research team proposed a new mechanism: during the aging process, the development of cancer is also aided by functionally intact CD8⁺ T cells.[1]Bodogai, M., Park, B., Braikia, FZ. et al. A distinct population of CD8+ T cells expressing CD39 and CD73 accumulates with age and supports cancer progression. Nat Aging (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-025-00966-3
