Fosun Pharma and Amgen Collaborate to Accelerate Commercialization of Two Innovative Therapies for Chinese Patients

China Securities News (reported by Xu Jizhong) — On June 27, Fosun Pharma and Amgen announced that they had successively reached cooperation agreements regarding the commercial licensing of two innovative drugs from Amgen — Otezla and Parsabiv — within China. This collaboration will enable Amgen to leverage Fosun Pharma's commercial capabilities in China to bring these two products to Chinese patients with psoriasis and chronic kidney disease at a faster pace.

Otezla (Apremilast Tablets) was approved by the National Medical Products Administration in August 2021 for the treatment of adult patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis who are candidates for phototherapy or systemic therapy. Otezla is the first and currently the only oral phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) inhibitor approved in China for the treatment of plaque psoriasis, offering Chinese patients more options for managing their condition and improving quality of life. Currently, there are approximately 6.5 million psoriasis patients in China, with about 57.3% being moderate to severe cases.

Parsabiv was successively approved for marketing by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in November 2016 and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in February 2017 for the treatment of secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) in adult patients with chronic kidney disease undergoing hemodialysis. Parsabiv is currently under product marketing application in China. SHPT is one of the common complications in maintenance hemodialysis patients with chronic kidney disease. The prevalence rate of chronic kidney disease (CKD) among adults in China is 10.8%. Data shows that by the end of 2019, the number of dialysis patients in China had increased to 735,000, with hemodialysis being the primary treatment method for dialysis patients, and the incidence of SHPT among hemodialysis patients is 47%-58%.