RemeGen Secures Over $100 Million in Funding to Advance Innovative Drug Pipeline Amid National Healthcare System Restoration

National Health Commission: Gradually Restore Normal Medical Order in a Tiered Manner

On March 16, Mi Feng, Spokesperson for the National Health Commission and Deputy Director of the Department of Publicity, stated at a press conference held by the State Council’s Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism that the number of existing confirmed cases nationwide has dropped below 10,000, with a continuous decline in severe cases. Medical treatment has yielded significant results, and all regions are required to gradually restore normal medical services in a tiered manner.

Johns Hopkins University: Confirmed COVID-19 Cases Outside China Surpass Those in China

On March 16, according to real-time statistics from Johns Hopkins University in the United States, as of 23:00 Eastern Time on March 15 (11:00 Beijing Time on March 16), the global cumulative number of confirmed COVID-19 cases had reached approximately 169,000, with the number of confirmed cases outside China exceeding that within China.

Shenzhen National GeneBank Becomes China’s First Officially Authorized Institution of the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data

On March 16, the China National GeneBank (CNGB) entered into a strategic partnership with the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID). The CNGB Life Big Data Platform (CNGBdb) has become GISAID’s first officially authorized platform in China. This strategic collaboration will provide Chinese researchers with one-stop access to viral data resources and more comprehensive analytical tools. It also marks a significant step forward for Chinese research institutions in promoting the global sharing of data on novel coronavirus and influenza, while ensuring compliance with legal requirements and safeguarding the rights of data producers and submitters.

Latest Study Finds: SARS-CoV-2 Can Invade Host Cells via a Novel CD147-Mediated Pathway

On March 14, 2020, Chen Zhinan, Zhu Ping, and Bian Huijie from the Fourth Military Medical University jointly published a non-peer-reviewed research paper on the preprint platform BioRxiv. The study revealed a novel pathway by which SARS-CoV-2 invades host cells: the spike (S) protein binds to the receptor CD147 on host cells, thereby mediating viral entry. Consequently, the discovery of this new CD147–S protein-mediated pathway for SARS-CoV-2 invasion provides a key target for the development of specific antiviral drugs.

Wangshi Wisdom Completes Nearly $10 Million in Series A Financing, Dual-Technology Platform Boosts Early-Stage R&D for Pharmaceutical Companies

On March 16, Beijing Wangshi Wisdom Technology Co., Ltd. announced that it had recently completed a Series A financing round of nearly $10 million. The round was jointly invested by the well-known USD funds Changling Capital and Linear Capital, with Mingxi Capital serving as the financial advisor for this financing. The funds raised will be primarily used to continuously optimize the Wangshi technology platform and drive technological innovation, strengthen core product research and development, enrich database resources, advance strategic partnerships and business expansion, and attract more outstanding management and technical talent.

RemeGen Completes Over $100 Million in Financing to Accelerate New Drug Development in Its R&D Pipeline

RemeGen Co., Ltd. (Yantai) Announces Completion of Over $100 Million in FinancingRecently, RemeGen Co., Ltd. (Yantai) announced the completion of a financing round exceeding USD 100 million. The round was led by Lilly Asia Ventures and Qiming Venture Partners, with participation from prominent international investment institutions including Vivo Capital, Jiankang Industrial Investment, OrbiMed, and Hudson Bay Capital, as well as existing investors. In addition, renowned domestic investment firms Zhengxingu Capital and CR Overseas acquired partial equity interests through equity transfers. The proceeds from this financing will be used to accelerate the research and development of new drugs in the company’s pipeline, particularly clinical trials, as well as the construction and commissioning of commercial manufacturing facilities, including preparations for the commercial production of Telitacicept (RC18) and Disitamab Vedotin (RC48).

Merck and Pfizer Announce Early Termination of Phase III Trial of Bavencio Plus Chemoradiotherapy as First-Line Treatment Due to Insufficient Efficacy

Recently, Merck and its partner Pfizer jointly announced an update on the Phase III JAVELIN Head & Neck 100 trial (NCT02952586), which evaluated the anti-PD-L1 therapy Bavencio (avelumab) for the treatment of head and neck cancer. Merck and Pfizer have accepted the recommendation of the independent Data Monitoring Committee (DMC) to terminate the study. The decision was based on a pre-planned interim analysis indicating that the trial was unlikely to meet its primary endpoint of achieving a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival (PFS). Currently, Merck and Pfizer are conducting a detailed analysis of the study, and the results will be shared with the scientific community.

Ucb’s New Anti-Epileptic Drug Padsevonil Fails in Phase 2b Clinical Trial

Recently, UCB announced the top-line results from the Phase IIb ARISE study (NCT03373383) of padsevonil, a novel antiepileptic drug. The results showed that during the 12-week maintenance period, padsevonil failed to achieve statistically significant improvements over placebo on either of the two primary endpoints of the study. Padsevonil is a dual-mechanism antiepileptic drug whose mechanism of action specifically targets the interaction between presynaptic and postsynaptic targets.

Huanghe Pharmaceutical and Longhua Hospital’s Collaboratively Developed TCM Class 6 New Drug, Shenqi Sherong Pills, Approved for Clinical Trials

Recently, Shenqi Sherong Pills, a new Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) drug classified as Category 6 and jointly developed by Shanghai Hutchison Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. and Longhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, has received clinical trial approval from the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA). The drug is intended for the treatment of mild to moderate cervical spondylotic myelopathy (identified in TCM pattern differentiation as Qi deficiency, blood stasis, and kidney deficiency syndrome).

FDA Issues Guidance to Encourage Generic Drug Competition

On March 13, the U.S. FDA released the final guidance on Competitive Generic Therapies (CGT), which outlines the procedures that generic drug applicants should follow and defines the processes and criteria for CGT designation. Compared with the draft version, the final guidance explicitly stipulates that applicants must request CGT designation for each individual application.

Fosun Pharma and BioNTech Reach Strategic Cooperation to Develop COVID-19 Vaccine

On March 15, Fosun Pharma announced that its controlled subsidiary, Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Industry Development Co., Ltd., had been granted an exclusive license by BioNTech SE to develop and commercialize in China a COVID-19 vaccine product based on BioNTech’s proprietary mRNA technology platform. According to the announcement, Fosun Pharma Industry will pay BioNTech up to USD 85 million in licensing fees (including upfront payments, clinical development, regulatory registration, and sales milestone payments) and a sales royalty equal to 35% of the product’s annual gross profit during the agreed-upon royalty period. In addition, Fosun will make an equity investment of approximately USD 50 million in BioNTech.

Lilly and AbCellera Partner to Develop Therapeutics Using Plasma from COVID-19 Survivors

Recently, Eli Lilly and AbCellera Biologics jointly announced that they have reached an agreement to co-develop antibody products for the treatment and prevention of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. This collaboration will leverage AbCellera’s Pandemic Rapid Response Platform, developed under the DARPA Pandemic Prevention Platform (P3) program, as well as Lilly’s global capabilities in the rapid development, manufacturing, and distribution of therapeutic antibodies.

Hua Medicine Announces Full-Year 2019 Results

On March 16, 2020, Hua Medicine announced the audited full-year results of the Company and its subsidiaries for the year ended December 31, 2019. The Company’s total expenditures for 2019 amounted to approximately RMB 468.5 million, including research and development expenses of approximately RMB 321.9 million. As of December 31, 2019, the Company’s bank balances and cash totaled approximately RMB 1,105.6 million.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Paul G. Parker as Senior Vice President of Strategy and Corporate Development

Recently, Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that Paul G. Parker will join the company as Senior Vice President of Strategy and Corporate Development. Parker will report to Marc N. Casper, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer. The current holder of this position, Shiraz Ladiwala, will retire in March 2021. Until then, he will serve as Senior Vice President of Integration and act as the key leader in the integration planning for the acquisition of QIAGEN, which was announced on March 3, 2020. Prior to joining Thermo Fisher Scientific, Parker spent six years at Goldman Sachs, where he served as Co-Chair of Global Mergers and Acquisitions and as a member of the firm’s Partnership Committee. (MedTrend)

Subscription Opens for Modern Pharmaceutical Enterprise Nanxin Pharmaceuticals

On March 16, Hunan Nanxin Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. opened its subscription period. The company publicly issued 35 million shares, accounting for 25.00% of its total share capital post-issuance. Of these, 9.975 million shares were offered through the online subscription channel at a price of RMB 34.94 per share. The issuance price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio stood at 55.48 times. The maximum subscription limit per single account was 9,500 shares, with subscription quantities required to be in multiples of 500 shares. A maximum subscription required a market value of RMB 95,000. According to the company’s fund-raising plan, RMB 409.6 million will be allocated to innovative drug research and development projects, RMB 120.1005 million to the marketing channel network upgrade project, and RMB 140 million to supplement working capital.

《NEJM》: Study Suggests Aspirin May Prevent Liver Cancer

Recently, a report published in the top-tier journal The New England Journal of Medicine revealed another beneficial use of aspirin: low-dose administration may prevent primary liver cancer caused by chronic viral hepatitis. The study results showed that the 10-year incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma was 4.0% (95% CI, 3.6–4.4) in the group taking low-dose (75 mg or 160 mg) aspirin, compared with 8.3% (95% CI, 8.1–8.5) in the non-aspirin group. After excluding other confounding factors, patients taking low-dose aspirin had a 31% reduction in the relative risk of developing liver cancer. (Sina Medicine)

Nucleic Acids Research: Study Reveals Novel Mechanism by Which Transcription Factor Sox2 Regulates Somatic Cell Reprogramming

Recently, the international high-impact academic journal Nucleic Acids Research published online a collaborative research achievement by Associate Professor Linlin Hou’s team from the School of Medicine at Sun Yat-sen University, the Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and other partners. This study reveals a novel mechanism whereby the transcription factor Sox2 simultaneously binds to both DNA and RNA to cooperatively regulate somatic cell reprogramming, with a particular emphasis on the functional role of the direct interaction between Sox2 and RNA during this process.