A drug that can help mend broken hearts is coming to China. Zensun (Shanghai) Science & Technology Co., has agreed to grant SciClone Pharmaceuticals a license and the exclusive rights to promote, market, distribute, and sell Neucardin™ in China, Hong Kong, and Macau. Neucardin is a novel, first-in-class therapeutic drug for the treatment of patients with intermediate to advanced chronic heart failure (CHF).

Halozyme Therapeutics entered into a worldwide deal with Pfizer to develop and commercialize products combining Pfizer biologics with Halozyme’s Enhanze™ technology. Enhanze is Halozyme’s drug delivery platform based on the company’s recombinant human hyaluronidase enzyme (rHuPH20). “Enhanze enables biologics to be delivered as a simple subcutaneous injection,” said Gregory I. Frost, Ph.D., president and CEO, Halozyme.

Threshold Pharmaceuticals Inc. has earned a $20 million milestone payment from Merck KGaA for its results from a clinical trial related to pancreatic cancer.

Threshold's stock gained 36 cents, or 5.7 percent, to $6.71 in premarket trading on Wednesday.

GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) is working with a Japanese biotechnology company to see if that company’s technology can find potential new cancer treatments.

Apexigen, a privately held biopharmaceutical company, and Gansu Duyiwei Biological Pharmaceutical (GDBP), have entered into a collaboration to grant an exclusive license to GDBP to develop and commercialize APX004 in China.

APX004 is a humanized monoclonal antibody directed against VEGFR2 for the treatment of certain cancers and angiogenic diseases.

Cambridge antibodies powerhouse, Abcam, has agreed to pay $170m (£107.6m) for a California company that specialises in rabbit monoclonal antibodies – a deal that nudges it closer to its ambition of being the world’s leading life science reagents business.

OTTAWA,  - Rx&D President Russell Williams made the following statement today about GlaxoSmithKline plc’s new funding of $12 Million to support an additional three-years of research to monitor seasonal influenza vaccine effectiveness in the elderly.

“Today’s announced investment by GlaxoSmithKline will help advance research already undertaken by supporting the tracking of the incidence and severity of diseases in elderly adults hospitalized with influenza across Canada. This funding will ensure key infrastructure will continue as surveillance research will be conducted in 40 hospitals across Canada comprising approximately 17,000 adult acute care beds, including sites in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia.”

Eli Lilly & Co. reported fourth- quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates as higher sales of its depression and diabetes medicines helped to counter a 44 percent plunge in revenue from the schizophrenia drug Zyprexa.

Net income fell 27 percent to $858.2 million, or 77 cents a share, the Indianapolis-based company said today in a statement. Profit excluding one-time items beat by 6 cents the average of 17 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Takeda Pharmaceutical has a new U.S. biotech to add to its portfolio of drug developers. The pharma outfit announced this morning that it will buy out La Jolla, CA-based Intellikine and scoop up its portfolio of experimental cancer treatments for $190 million in cash and $120 million in promised milestones. Coincidentally, Takeda also laid out a plan to consolidate its two California subsidiaries--which includes a legacy group from an earlier acquisition--into a single operation based in San Diego.