Daily CSR

AsymBio Expands Biologics CDMO with New Shanghai R&D Center

Debashish Mukherjee — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 15:52:00 +0200

AsymBio, the biologics-focused Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) under the Asymchem Group (stock codes: 002821.SZ / 6821.HK), has announced the groundbreaking of a new research and development facility at its Fengxian campus in Shanghai. This expansion represents a major milestone in enhancing the company's biologics CDMO capabilities while further establishing the Fengxian site as a key center for research, development, and manufacturing.

Construction commenced in May 2026, with completion and operational launch planned for the second half of 2027. The eight-story building will occupy approximately 2,500 square meters of land and offer nearly 20,000 square meters of total floor space. Designed in accordance with green and low-carbon building principles, the facility will house capabilities for cell line development, upstream and downstream process development, conjugation process development, drug product development, and advanced analytical services.

Situated alongside AsymBio's existing clinical and commercial manufacturing facilities for antibodies and antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) at the Fengxian campus, the new R&D center will serve as a dedicated innovation hub. Its close integration with manufacturing operations is expected to improve technology transfer, facilitate efficient scale-up, and accelerate the transition from development to commercial production.

The facility will also host the AccPCC (Accelerated PCC Platform), an integrated research and development framework designed to reduce the time required to advance drug candidates from lead identification to preclinical candidate (PCC) selection. Leveraging AI-enabled, end-to-end workflows, the platform brings together early-stage research, Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls (CMC), nonclinical evaluation, and early clinical translation. It offers comprehensive support in lead optimization, developability assessment, and customized early-stage CMC strategies for biotechnology companies worldwide.

Commenting on the initiative, AsymBio CEO Rui Yang emphasized that successful biologics development depends on early collaboration, integrated scientific and CMC decision-making, and consideration of manufacturability from the beginning of a project. By utilizing the combined R&D expertise available across the Asymchem Group, the AccPCC platform aims to enhance development efficiency, accelerate preclinical candidate selection, and shorten the journey from scientific discovery to clinical application.

The new Fengxian R&D building is expected to strengthen collaboration between research, process scale-up, and manufacturing, enabling clients to minimize development bottlenecks and manage complex biologics programs with greater efficiency and confidence.

Decoy Therapeutics Reports Promising Ebola Activity for Broad-Spectrum Antiviral Candidate

Debashish Mukherjee — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 15:33:00 +0200

Decoy Therapeutics Inc, a biotechnology company focused on developing Designable Multi-Antivirals (D-MAVs), has announced that one of its D-MAV candidates has demonstrated in vitro effectiveness against the wild-type Ebola Zaire virus during testing conducted at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute. Encouraged by these findings, the company has launched an exploratory research initiative to create D-MAV therapies targeting filoviruses, including Ebola and Marburg viruses.

The D-MAV candidate was originally developed using Decoy's IMP3ACT platform to prevent coronavirus entry into host cells, where it has already exhibited nanomolar to picomolar potency against a broad range of known coronavirus variants. Its newly observed activity against Ebola Zaire—a filovirus responsible for 17 of the last 20 Ebola outbreaks—supports the company's approach of designing a single antiviral capable of targeting shared viral mechanisms across multiple virus families.

"Our industry has traditionally taken a reactive, one-virus-at-a-time approach, leaving us continually responding to emerging viral threats," said Rick Pierce, Chief Executive Officer of Decoy Therapeutics.

"While advancing our respiratory disease program toward clinical development remains our primary focus, these findings expand our confidence in the broader capabilities of our platform."

The same laboratory studies also found that the candidate exhibited in vitro activity against the Lassa fever virus, an arenavirus. Diseases caused by filoviruses and arenaviruses—including Ebola, Marburg, and Lassa fever—qualify for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Tropical Disease Priority Review Voucher program, which is intended to encourage the development of treatments for neglected infectious diseases.

Dr. Barbara Hibner, Chief Scientific Officer and Co-Founder of Decoy Therapeutics, explained that the D-MAV was designed to target a viral entry mechanism relied upon by coronaviruses, yet it also inhibited filovirus infection because these viruses use the same class I fusion machinery. She noted that the results validate the company's broad-spectrum antiviral strategy and highlight the versatility of the D-MAV platform. The company is now working on new D-MAV candidates aimed at simultaneously targeting filoviruses and arenaviruses, with the expectation that its platform can speed their development.

According to Decoy Therapeutics, the ability to address both commercial infectious diseases and pandemic preparedness through a unified technology platform is central to its strategy. The latest findings reinforce that vision, particularly as ongoing Ebola outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda—caused by the Bundibugyo virus and currently lacking approved vaccines or treatments—continue to emphasize the need for broad-spectrum antiviral solutions.

Teva’s Global Innovation Strategy: Advancing Healthcare Through Collaboration and Research

Debashish Mukherjee — Wed, 18 Jun 2025 08:02:00 +0200

Advancing Access to Healthcare through Innovation and Partnerships
Expanding access to medicines and healthcare relies on the continuous creation of evidence-driven solutions to address unmet medical needs. To support this mission, we actively engage in collaborative scientific efforts with academic institutions, research organizations, start-ups, pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, and health maintenance groups.

These partnerships help us discover external innovations that complement our internal R&D objectives. This collaborative approach enhances our scientific presence and accelerates the expansion of our innovative drug pipeline, aligning with the Step-up Innovation focus of our Pivot to Growth strategy. Ultimately, these initiatives aim to reduce the time needed for drug discovery and development and improve the likelihood of identifying successful therapeutic candidates.

Our Model for Innovation and Collaboration
Our innovation strategy is multi-faceted—bridging internal priorities (uncovered through team workshops and consultations) with external opportunities identified via detailed mapping, database analysis, AI-based scouting, and traditional methods. By being actively involved in key trade and industry associations, we strengthen our position within the global biotech ecosystem. As a trusted collaborator, we offer access to industry insights and the expertise of our skilled teams.

Partnerships Across the U.S. and Europe
In the United States, we have strategic innovation partnerships with top academic institutions including Harvard University, Thomas Jefferson University, University of Pittsburgh, University of Oklahoma, and University of Pennsylvania.

In Europe, we’ve been an active participant in the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI)—Europe’s largest public-private partnership in life sciences—since 2019. This initiative supports the development of advanced vaccines, medicines, and treatment methods. As of 2024, we are involved in over eight IMI consortia, covering the full spectrum of drug development. Two of the latest projects focus on biologics and biomarker research:

RealHOPE: Designed to improve guidelines for handling biologic medications by patients, caregivers, and pharmacies.
European Platform for Neurodegenerative Diseases (EPND): Aims to create a comprehensive infrastructure for collecting and analyzing clinical and biological data to support biomarker discovery in neurodegenerative diseases.

Israel as a Strategic Innovation Hub
Given our strong historical roots in Israel, the country plays a vital role in our global innovation efforts. Since re-establishing our focus there in 2020, we have initiated around 50 research collaborations with Israeli scientists. These projects have secured 18 grants from the Israel Innovation Authority, with two receiving additional funding in 2024.

Key Israel-based innovation initiatives include:

AION Labs: A collaborative venture between Teva, three other pharmaceutical giants, Amazon, and the Israel Biotech Fund, AION Labs fosters AI-driven start-ups in drug development. We support AION with mentorship and active involvement. In 2024, AION launched CombinAble, a start-up for antibody optimization, and we backed Celleryx, which applies AI for early detection of cancer and autoimmune conditions.
Organospheres: This multi-partner consortium, including start-ups, pharma firms, and academic researchers, is developing a human-based 3D ex-vivo system to potentially replace animal use in preclinical research.
BioInnovators Forum: We mentor and train 30 PhD and postdoctoral students annually in translational medicine through workshops and an innovation challenge aimed at addressing unmet clinical needs. Over 150 students have taken part since 2020. Notable 2024 projects included a breath-based tuberculosis detection kit and an IVF device enhancing embryo fertilization and implantation. This program also helps us identify top-tier scientific talent for our R&D efforts.

Since 2020:

50 collaborations with Israeli scientists
18 grants awarded from the Israel Innovation Authority
150 BioInnovators Forum participants

Research into Public Health Needs
Our research team gathers and interprets public health and epidemiological data to assess the clinical, economic, and social needs of patients in key therapeutic areas such as neurology, psychiatry, immunology, and oncology. We focus on understanding disease burden, testing innovative clinical education tools, and improving access to treatment. This data also supports trial design by helping to identify the most appropriate patient populations and inclusion criteria. In 2024, we presented findings at 176 scientific conferences and published 55 articles in peer-reviewed medical and scientific journals.

Teva’s 2024 Academic Publications on PubMed (55 total):

33%: Research Innovation
29%: Neurology/Psychiatry
11%: Migraine
7%: Respiratory
7%: Oncology
5%: Immunology
4%: Cardiovascular
4%: Central Nervous System/Pain

Click here to read the complete 2024 Healthy Future Report.

Click here to read the complete 2024 Healthy Future Report Disclosures.