Restructuring Edition: Financial market conditions are improving, but gains have not stopped some companies from cutting costs or shutting down. MEI may wind down if it does not identify another strategic alternative and Aslan has begun to liquidate, while others have cut jobs.

One Chinese biotech executive is entertaining hopes of China’s domestic market for novel drugs growing to CNY300bn ($41bn). However, the country’s public payer spent just CNY90bn on such products in 2023 and is expected to increase expenditure to more than CNY100bn this year.

The ranks of B7-H3-targeting antibody-drug conjugates under development in China have seen their first dropout, although elsewhere there are two FGFR2b-directed ADCs with first-in-class potential on the horizon. Meanwhile, there have been other discontinuations of KRAS G12C inhibitors and anti-BCMA CAR-T cell therapies in the country, while new players have surfaced in the areas of mRNA cancer vaccines and amyloid-beta-targeting antibodies for Alzheimer’s disease.

Plus alliances involving Xyphos/Kelonia, Nippon Shinyaku/Vicor, Telix/QSAM, Nicox/Kowa, Kyowa Kirin/BridgeBio, as well as deals in brief.