Among other Asia deals, Takeda adds to pair of recent gene therapy tie-ups with a CNS-focused cell therapy partnership with Immusoft; earlier it licensed ex-US rights to JCR’s Hunter syndrome drug.

While Viatris says it has sufficient capacity to meet current and future demand for tuberculosis drug pretomanid, TB Alliance has signed a non-exclusive license with Lupin. This is the second tie-up with an Indian manufacturer but the local restricted use approval means countries other than India are likely to benefit for now.

Everest Medicines’ deal with Canadian biotech Providence Therapeutics contains a full transfer of technology which may be appealing to Chinese regulators.

The approval of China's second CAR-T therapy has come amid reimbursement challenges, despite the pricing of its direct competitor being much lower than in the US. Chinese developers are pinning their hopes on rapid domestic market expansion via commercial insurance tie-ups as other CAR-Ts move through local development.