First Opinion is STAT’s platform for interesting, illuminating, and provocative articles about the life sciences writ large, written by biotech insiders, health care workers, researchers, and others. To encourage robust, good-faith discussion about issues raised in First Opinion essays, STAT publishes selected Letters to the Editor received in response to them. You can submit a…
Want to stay on top of the science and politics driving biotech today? Sign up to get our biotech newsletter in your inbox. Today, a win for RFK Jr., as an FDA panel narrowly voted in favor of allowing compounding pharmacies to produce certain unregulated peptides. Also, in heart-wrenching detail, Science writes of the six-year-old girl who died…
A growing number of mainland Chinese institutional fund managers have built up stakes in Hong Kong-listed biotechnology stocks over the past month, drawn by attractive valuations amid a surge in cross-border licensing deals in the sector. China’s largest mutual fund manager, E Fund Management, has taken a 7 per cent stake in gene-editing biotechnology firm…
The Hong Kong Investment Corporation (HKIC) recorded a major jump in investment income during its second year of operation, as it expanded its role as the city’s “patient capital” engine driving local economic development. The wholly state-owned investment firm generated about HK$6.46 billion (US$824 million) in investment income in 2025, a stunning 175 per cent…
I spent nearly two decades covering the biotech and pharma sector, first in Washington, D.C., and then in Beijing. My first story, published in 2007, covered the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s decision to open its inaugural overseas office in China, a fast-emerging market I later covered for 12 years. In that time, I saw…
Want to stay on top of the science and politics driving biotech today? Sign up to get our biotech newsletter in your inbox. Hi from BIO! I’m sitting in the frigid media room here next to STAT’s Brittany Trang, who is writing something scintillating about artificial intelligence. Today, we’ve got Lilly chasing aesthetics with a AI-designed experimental hair loss…
Allison covers what hot startups are getting up to, and who’s financing them. She is also co-host of the weekly biotech podcast, “The Readout Loud.” You can reach Allison on Signal at AllisonDeAngelis.01. Should the federal government try to slow — or even block — U.S. biotech deals that could benefit China? The question of…
Gelteq (GELS) announced a new Gelteq Center of Excellence in Guangdong Province, China, creating a strategic regional hub within a major pharma and biotech ecosystem. The hub is expected to support accelerated product development and commercialization, expanded formulation and testing capabilities, and greater capacity to advance multiple programs, strengthening Gelteq’s…
The government’s investment arm achieved a double-digit internal rate of return last year, greater than many newly established venture capital funds, according to its CEO. “Many overseas funds have a J-curve performance, as they tend to suffer an initial loss before a gain,” said Clara Chan Ka-chai, CEO of Hong Kong Investment Corporation (HKIC). “But…
Visitors look at new buildings in Hong Kong Park of the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Co-operation Zone on Dec 22, 2025. (ADAM LAM / CHINA DAILY) At least 17 international biotechnology companies have established operations in Hong Kong this year, with several having set up Asia-Pacific headquarters in the city — drawn…