Junshi is the latest Chinese company to announce plans to expand into Southeast Asia, where its compatriot firms are also eyeing large market potential and are set to benefit from less stringent reviews of China-only clinical data due to fewer questions around ethnic differences versus the US.

The French firm is paying a 104% premium plus contingent value rights of an additional $10 per share to get hold of AstraZeneca spin-off Albireo and its lead asset Bylvay, which is approved for progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis and is showing promise in two other more lucrative indications.

While plans to obtain accelerated approval of lanifibranor remain unchanged, Inventiva now plans to conduct the confirmatory Phase III in cirrhotic patients, meaning a shorter trial duration and possibly broader label.

With resmetirom hitting its co-primary endpoints, Madrigal intends to file the THRβ agonist for approval during H1 2023 in the liver disease, an unmet medical need with blockbuster earnings potential.