While Astellas is closing in on the first Claudin18.2 antibody therapy cancer approval, CARsgen and Moderna aim to boost responses from a CAR-T approach.

Astellas says its first approval filing globally for zolbetuximab - in Japan for gastric cancer - came faster than expected, as Scrip takes a look at the latest status of other CLDN18.2-targeting candidates in late clinical trials.

AstraZeneca has been drawn back to drug development innovation in China after accelerating its rate of licensing deals with biotechs in the country over the past few months. Meanwhile, the UK multinational has also been building a network ecosystem together with a Chinese investment bank to take a long-term view in the country, a senior R&D executive told Scrip in an interview.