Timberlyne Therapeutics

The Mitsubishi Chemical Group is selling its centuries-old pharmaceutical business to Bain Capital in a carve-out worth about $3.3 billion. The deal comes after Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare last year softened certain requirements for drug approval applications, breathing new life into a market that some Western drugmakers had viewed as not worth pursuing. The Osaka-based business at the heart of the deal — Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma — was founded in the 1600s. It has a pipeline spanning immunology, vaccines, central nervous system, diabetes and metabolic disease, with one FDA-approved treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a free radical scavenger called Radicava. It employs more than 5,000 people, according to Bain’s press release on Friday. Reports of the deal were first flagged by the Wall Street Journal last month. The transaction should be complete in the third quarter, according to Bain. Tanabe will function as an “independent company” and focus on fostering growth through business development, licensing deals and boosting R&D productivity. It plans to in-license assets for the Japan market, which could help address the problem of “drug loss” in the country, Bain Capital Life Sciences partner Ricky Sun told Endpoints News . Around half the medicines developed in Western markets don’t make it to Japan because of factors like the country’s conservative regulatory approach and the high cost of running trials there. “What we wanted to do alongside our Japan private equity team is really think about how we can reverse that trend because Japanese patients also deserve to have the best medicines,” Sun said. In September, Bain raised $3 billion for its fourth life sciences fund. Last month, the firm invested into a $180 million Series A raise for autoimmune biotech Timberlyne Therapeutics. It has also supported a musculoskeletal-focused company called Angitia Biopharmaceuticals and CDMO Serán . Sun said Bain is not yet done with the fund, adding “we have more firepower if we need it.” In a separate notice on Friday, the Mitsubishi parent company cited a number of reasons for divesting Tanabe, including the high cost of drug discovery and “gradually shrinking” unmet needs in certain therapeutic areas. Editor’s Note: This article was updated to clarify that Tanabe Pharma will continue to function as an independent company with a focus on dealmaking. A previous version of the article incorrectly referred to Bain Capital.

Chinese biotechs InnoCare Pharma and KeyMed Biosciences will also be in line for up to $502.5 million in potential milestone payments from Prolium Biosciences, along with tiered royalties on net sales.\n Chinese biotechs InnoCare Pharma and KeyMed Biosciences have sold the international rights to a clinical-stage bispecific antibody to a new company created by RTW Investments for $17.5 million in near-term cash.The CD20xCD3 antibody, known as ICP-B02 or CM355, is currently undergoing a phase 1/2 trial in China for relapsed/refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). That trial has already produced “promising early results in both intravenous (IV) and subcutaneous (SC) formulations, particularly in patients with follicular lymphoma (FL) and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma,\" the companies said in a Jan. 20 release.Specifically, all 13 patients who were treated with ICP-B02 at doses of 6 mg or above responded to their treatment, according to Innocare’s website. Innocare is best known for the BTK inhibitor orelabrutinib, which has been approved in China for lymphoma since 2023.A dose expansion trial pairing up ICP-B02 with other immunochemotherapies for earlier lines of NHL treatment is also in the works, with permission granted for a U.S. study. U.S.-based Prolium Biosciences has now agreed to pay InnoCare and Keymed $17.5 million in upfront and near-term payments to develop and commercialize ICP-B02 as a cancer drug outside of China. Prolium also has the right to develop ICP-B02 in non-cancer indications globally, according to a filling with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (PDF).The two Chinese biotechs will also be in line for up to $502.5 million in potential milestone payments from Prolium, along with tiered royalties on net sales. InnoCare and KeyMed will split the money evenly, and will also receive a minority equity stake in Prolium.Prolium was set up by RTW in 2024. Last year also saw the New York-based investment fund involved in the launch of obesity biotech Kailera Therapeutics, which RTW said at the time was the fourth company it had helped create.It’s been a busy January for Keymed, which also launched a new company with U.S.-based biotech builder Mountainfield Venture Partners called Timberlyne Therapeutics to take forward a clinical-stage CD38-targeting antibody. Before that, Keymed was behind KYM, a joint venture with fellow Hong Kong-listed Lepu Biopharma that received $63 million from AstraZeneca in 2023 in turn for an early-phase antibody-drug conjugate. 

The China-to-US experimental medicine pipeline is ballooning: yet another US-based biotech formed around a candidate from China’s Keymed Biosciences on Monday. Life sciences investment firm RTW has set up a company called Prolium to take forward a CD20×CD3 bispecific known as CM355 outside Asia, the companies said in a press release and Hong Kong Stock Exchange filing . Prolium will get rights to develop the antibody in both oncology and non-oncology indications in exchange for $17.5 million upfront and up to $502.5 million in biobucks. Keymed will split its earnings with partner Beijing InnoCare. The companies will also get a minority equity stake in the new company, according to the HKEX filing. China-derived drug candidates have featured prominently in the pipelines of recently launched biotechs: four of the 10 megarounds so far this year have gone to biotechs developing such assets. Chengdu-based Keymed is one of the many biopharmas driving the trend, having out-licensed candidates to two new companies earlier this month. Timberlyne Therapeutics emerged with $180 million and Ouro Medicines debuted with $120 million. And last year, Belenos Biosciences broke cover with two Keymed assets and a former Biohaven executive at the helm. RTW, meanwhile, has recently taken part in similar newco formations. It helped form Kailera Therapeutics , which launched last year with $400 million and a Phase 3-ready obesity drug candidate from China-headquartered Hengrui.