Investors wooed for new analgesic

Themis Qi

CK Life Sciences (0775) said it will welcome investments for the ongoing development of an analgesic after announcing one of its biotech subsidiaries will merge with a US-listed peer.

The drug, Halneuron, is expected to be marketed as early as 2028 to offer a new treatment for chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain.

CK Life vice president and chief scientific officer Melvin Toh Kean-meng said a large amount of funds for research and development is still needed before commercialization.

Following subsidiary Wex Pharmaceuticals' merger with the Nasdaq-listed Virios Therapeutics, the new public entity Dogwood Therapeutics can give CK Life access to incremental funding to accelerate Halneuron's development.

"CK Life will be glad to have new investors, even though the coming funds will dilute our equity in the Dogwood," said deputy chairman and executive director Alan Abel Yu Ying-choi.

CK Life announced on Monday that Virios will acquire Wex's parent and all assets related to Halneuron for US$100 million (HK$780 million). CK Life also promised to lend US$19.5 million to Wex's clinical and R&D activities.

In other news, FWD (5221) said it has signed an agreement with Roche Diagnostics Asia Pacific to leverage Roche's digital healthcare solutions and diagnostic methodologies for its health insurance services in Asia.