Mingyan Pharma and Beacon Pharmaceuticals Sign Strategic Collaboration Agreement to Advance Anti-Cancer Drug Development
China is a country with a large population and a high burden of cancer. According to statistical data released by the National Cancer Center in 2019, there are more than 10,000 new cancer cases diagnosed daily in China, averaging 7.5 diagnoses per minute. Among these, lung cancer, gastric cancer, colorectal cancer, liver cancer, and breast cancer alone account for more than half of all new cases.
To ensure the medication needs of cancer patients, the Chinese government has implemented a series of measures in recent years, such as accelerating the approval process for new drugs, initiating special price negotiations, and conducting centralized drug procurement.
Nevertheless, cases of cancer patients’ families falling into poverty or returning to poverty due to the disease still occur from time to time—China’s market urgently needs more affordable, high-quality generic anticancer drugs.
Recently, Beijing Mingyan Pharmaceutical Research Co., Ltd. and Dengta Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. have signed a strategic cooperation agreement. The two parties will collaborate on multiple anti-cancer drug development projects, with Mingyan Pharmaceutical responsible for pharmaceutical research, clinical trials, supply of basic materials, sales layout, and other related tasks.
Mingyan Pharma is dedicated to providing professional and efficient CRO services to Chinese pharmaceutical enterprises, empowering them to build world-class drug R&D systems and enabling the completion of project development and regulatory review and approval in a manner that is “faster, better, and more cost-effective.”
In the future, Mingyan Pharmaceutical will leverage its integrated project management platform to help Lighthouse Pharma accelerate R&D progress, reduce production costs, shorten time-to-market, and expand market share. This will alleviate the financial burden on cancer patients in China, ultimately saving more lives and improving the quality of life for those affected by cancer.
This strategic partnership will see both parties continue to engage in in-depth and close collaboration and discussions on R&D platform development, international talent acquisition, technology transfer and academic exchange, laboratory management, and the construction and management of GMP production lines. This initiative actively embodies Mingyan Pharma’s corporate vision of “ensuring affordable, high-quality, and safe medications for the general public” and Lighthouse Pharma’s vision of “providing life with an affordable hope.” It is poised to drive the development of China’s generic anticancer drug industry.
Lighthouse Pharma is a novel domestic pharmaceutical company focused on the research, development, and production of anti-tumor drugs. Aligning with the direction of China’s pharmaceutical industry reforms and leveraging the Marketing Authorization Holder (MAH) system, the company is committed to driving the rapid development of China’s oncology pharmaceutical sector. It actively addresses the social issues of “lack of access to medication” and “poverty caused by illness” among the general public, which stem from the high prices of anti-cancer drugs.
It is reported that Beacon Pharma began actively introducing advanced international drug R&D technologies and strategies in 2019. The company has established a pipeline targeting several common cancers in China and plans to develop 3–5 generic anticancer drugs in the same batch, with its first product expected to launch in 2023.
Mr. Zhang Li, Co-founder of Lighthouse Pharma, stated, “Stones from other hills may serve to polish the jade! There is much we can learn from abroad in drug development and technology. Lighthouse Pharma is dedicated to introducing, absorbing, and refining these advanced international pharmaceutical experiences and technologies, integrating them into China’s pharmaceutical industry to better serve Chinese cancer patients. Mingyan Pharma boasts extensive experience in international project management and can provide us with systematic solutions for oncology drug development. Through our comprehensive strategic partnership with Mingyan Pharma, our product development roadmap is fundamentally secured.”
Mr. He Xiaobing, President and CEO of Mingyan Pharmaceutical, stated: “The collaboration with Dengta Pharmaceutical is both a significant responsibility and a milestone of great importance for Mingyan Pharmaceutical. It fully leverages Mingyan’s long-accumulated international pharmaceutical resources and R&D experience, enabling the company to maximize and enhance its international project management capabilities. This marks a solid step forward in our commitment to providing ‘lifecycle-based systematic management services for pharmaceutical products.’”
It is hoped that, in the future, an increasing number of domestic Chinese pharmaceutical companies, such as Lighthouse Pharma and Mingyan Pharmaceutical, will actively respond to national initiatives by prioritizing the introduction and innovation of pharmaceutical technologies. This will help China’s pharmaceutical industry achieve leapfrog development on the global stage, expand beyond its borders, and compete worldwide.