ByteDance spin-off Anew Labs raises US$290m as AI drug developers enjoy fundraising boom

South China Morning Post - Sep 18, 2026

China is seeing a fresh fundraising boom for artificial intelligence-powered drug developers, with start-ups including a ByteDance spin-off raising hundreds of millions of dollars this week as investors rush to back domestic challengers to Anthropic and Isomorphic Labs. Anew Labs, a Shanghai-based AI drug discovery firm and former unit of Chinese tech giant ByteDance, has raised US$290 million at a valuation of US$1.5 billion, according to an informed source. Investors included prominent venture...

Read full article
MORE NEWS
Electrified vehicles take the fast lane in the Philippines
Sep 18, 2026
Electrified vehicles take the fast lane in the Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — Once seemingly a distant vision of the future, electrified vehicles are becoming an increasingly common sight on Philippine roads, especially among Filipinos who can afford to ditch their fuel-guzzling cars as an oil crisis drives up the cost of getting around. Since the year began, electrified vehicle sales in the country have more

BP 22 Gets Its Teeth Back
Sep 18, 2026
BP 22 Gets Its Teeth Back

In 2007, I wrote an article entitled “BP 22 Defanged,” where I observed that Batas Pambansa Blg. 22, the Bouncing Checks Law (BP 22), had been weakened by two developments: the Supreme Court’s policy preference for a fine rather than imprisonment (SC Administrative Circular Nos. 12-2000 and 13-01) and decisions requiring the prosecution to prove

Over P10/L price hike for diesel, P5/L for gasoline seen next week
Sep 18, 2026
Over P10/L price hike for diesel, P5/L for gasoline seen next week

Motorists should brace for another round of big-time increases in pump prices to be implemented in the coming week, as the Middle East crisis continues to disrupt the global petroleum market.

How will rate increase in Japan affect capital flow in global financial markets?
Sep 18, 2026
How will rate increase in Japan affect capital flow in global financial markets?

Japan is adding a fresh layer of uncertainty to global financial markets by potentially triggering a new bout of turmoil in bond markets and dampening the appetite for risk assets, as Tokyo’s pursuit of increased defence spending stokes concerns about fiscal discipline and sends sovereign bond yields to multi-year highs. The nation’s 10-year bond yield hit 3.03 per cent this week, a level not seen in three decades, while 30-year bond yields traded at 4.1 per cent, also nearing a 30-year high....

TAT is expanding Nihao Month 2026 to boost travel to China and increase engagement
Sep 17, 2026
TAT is expanding Nihao Month 2026 to boost travel to China and increase engagement

TAT's Nihao Month 2026 targets Chinese tourists with Meituan promotions, cultural events, and KOL trips to boost engagement.

Hong Kong malls bet on Asian Games to boost footfall, tenant sales amid spending shifts
Sep 17, 2026
Hong Kong malls bet on Asian Games to boost footfall, tenant sales amid spending shifts

Hong Kong shopping mall operators are extending a strategy used during this year’s Fifa World Cup into the Asian Games, leveraging major sporting events to draw visitors and support tenant sales as retailers face competition from Shenzhen, overseas shopping and online spending. Sino Group is among the landlords expanding the strategy beyond tournament broadcasts. It has projected foot traffic across its four malls to increase during its Asian Games campaign, with selected merchants forecast to...

P74-M facility to boost Cabanatuan rice processing
Sep 17, 2026
P74-M facility to boost Cabanatuan rice processing

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Agriculture (DA) has opened a new P74.4-million rice processing facility in Cabanatuan to improve postharvest processing in Nueva Ecija, the country’s top rice-producing province. The facility, inaugurated on Thursday, includes a multi-stage rice mill that can process 4 to 5 tons per hour, along with three recirculating dryers, each

Soft demand to slow Toyota’s PH production in ‘26
Sep 17, 2026
Soft demand to slow Toyota’s PH production in ‘26

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine production at Japanese automotive giant Toyota may slow in 2026 as weak demand weighs on vehicle sales, putting the automaker on track to fall short of its banner production year in 2025. According to Toyota Motor Philippines senior vice president Sherwin Chua-Lim, output from the company’s Santa Rosa plant in Laguna may

Meat traders buck plan to raise pork jowl tariffs
Sep 17, 2026
Meat traders buck plan to raise pork jowl tariffs

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine meat importers are pushing back against the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) bid to reclassify frozen pork jowls as swine meat, a move that would raise the tariff on the imported cut to up to 40 percent. In a June petition to the Tariff Commission, the DA noted that retailers and food

Yuchengco urges SEC to withdraw broker-director term limits
Sep 17, 2026
Yuchengco urges SEC to withdraw broker-director term limits

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine Stock Exchange director Ma. Vivian Yuchengco urged the Securities and Exchange Commisison (SEC) to revoke term-limit rules for broker-directors, asserting that shareholders should determine the tenure of their elected representatives on the board. In a statement, Yuchengco reiterated her opposition to SEC Memorandum Circular No. 17, Series of 2026, which caps broker-directors’

NGCP boosts grid capacity with P23.5-B transmission project
Sep 17, 2026
NGCP boosts grid capacity with P23.5-B transmission project

MANILA, Philippines — The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) is on track to activate P23.5 billion worth of transmission projects this year as it works to strengthen the country’s grid network further. Breaking it down, NGCP assistant vice president Leonor Felipa Cynthia Alabanza said the grid operator is spending around P11 billion to finish

Debt ratio seen rising to 70.7% by 2027 in severe conditions
Sep 17, 2026
Debt ratio seen rising to 70.7% by 2027 in severe conditions

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine debt could climb to as much as 70.7 percent of gross domestic product by 2027 under a severe downside economic scenario, according to a sensitivity test that flagged the government’s growth assumptions as still too optimistic. The estimate is not a forecast but forms part of the alternative growth scenarios developed by