HONG
KONG, CHINA - Media OutReach - 5
May 2020 - A fully integrated biopharmaceutical company -- Uni-Bio
Science Group Limited (the "Company", together with its subsidiaries, the
"Group"; Stock code: 0690.HK) is pleased to announce that its wholly-owned subsidiary
Beijing GeneTech Pharm (Beijing BKJ) reached a partnership with Swiss company
Ypsomed, to co-develop an innovative pre-filled injection pen for Uni-Bio's
pipeline products. According to the agreement, Ypsomed's YpsoPen® drug delivery platform will be developed for Beijing
BKJ's glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonist ("Uni-E4") and parathyroid
hormone (PTH) analogue ("Uni-PTH"), which are two new biologic products indicated
for the treatment of diabetes and osteoporosis, respectively. Thereafter,
Beijing BKJ will be responsible for further clinical trial development and will
share YpsoPen® related clinical trial information with Ypsomed. YpsoPen® is already
an approved product with the Chinese NMPA, and widely used with insulin-related
products from PRC's largest insulin producers. Considering 30% share of
diabetes market uses domestic made insulin in PRC, YpsoPen® is extremely
reliable and highly recognized by Chinese patients and doctors. The group will
be the first company in China to launch GLP-1 and PTH product with YpsoPen®.
Both products require long-term administration, and therefore the integration
with YpsoPen® will provide patients with a safer long-term self-care solution.
Ypsomed's YpsoPen®
and the Group's 2nd generation Uni-PTH (rhPTH [1-34] in cartridges
for injection devices)
Comparing to other injector pen products in China, YpsoPen®
is an intuitive variable dose pen injector with several advantages, including
fulfilling ISO 11608-1:2014 requirements for dose accuracy, equipping with
efficient state-of-the-art delivery mechanics with gearing, ensuring correct
dosing up to the last drop. As a business partner in China of Ypsomed, the
group expects the partnership will considerably drive up its product value. Ypsomed
has other exciting self-care injection platform products, such as automatic pen
injector systems, wearable large-volume patch injector systems and Bluetooth
intelligent injection system (both in development). As the Group strives toward
its vision of becoming a leader in the treatment of chronic disease in China,
Ypsomed's range of self-care solutions are complementary to the Group's future
development plan and there is a large opportunity for the both companies to further
extend the collaboration.
Referring to the
collaboration, Mr. Kingsley Leung, the Chairman of Uni-Bio Science Group said,
"We have performed extensive market research and due diligence on the pen
injector market. In the end, we chose Ypsomed's solution based on their
product's reliability and market acceptance. From the beginning of our
development journey of Uni-E4 and Uni-PTH, our aims were to provide
patient-centric products. The integration of our products with YpsoPen® not
only create a greater technological hurdle against competition, most
importantly it brings more convenient administration for clinical practitioners
and patients. I believe the partnership doesn't stop with YpsoPen®, we hope to
integrate our products in other innovative injector systems from Ypsomed, as
long as they can benefit the Chinese patients."
About Ypsomed
The Ypsomed Group
is a leading Swiss developer and manufacturer of injection and infusion systems
for self-medication and a renowned diabetes specialist with over 30 years'
experience. As a leader in innovation and technology, Ypsomed is the preferred
partner for pharmaceutical and biotech companies for the supply of injection
pens, autoinjectors and infusion systems to administer liquid drugs. Ypsomed
promotes and sells its product portfolio under the umbrella brands, mylife™ Diabetescare
directly to patients or through pharmacies and clinics, and under YDS Ypsomed
Delivery Systems as business-to-business to pharmaceutical companies. Ypsomed
has its headquarters in Burgdorf, Switzerland, and operates a global network of
manufacturing sites, subsidiaries and distributors. The Ypsomed Group employs
around 1700 employees.
About Uni-Bio Science Group
Uni-Bio Science Group Limited is principally engaged in
the research and development, manufacture and distribution of biopharmaceutical
products. The research and development center is fully equipped with a complete
system for the development of genetically-engineered products with a pilot
plant test base which is in line with NMPA requirements. The Group also has two
GMP manufacturing bases in Beijing and Shenzhen. The Group also has a highly
efficient commercialization platform and marketing network. The Group focuses
on the development of novel treatments and innovative drugs addressing the
therapeutic areas of endocrine as diabetes and osteoporosis, ophthalmology and
dermatology. Please visit the official website of Uni-Bio Science Group for
more information: www.uni-bioscience.com
About Uni-E4
Uni-E4, a GLP-1 agonist, is a non-insulin treatment candidate
that stimulates the incretin pathway and is effective in the treatment of Type
2 diabetes. GLP-1 agonist is also one of the only classes of diabetic drugs
shown to also cause weight loss. As obesity is a common comorbidity of T2DM,
this class is effective in T2DM patients who are overweight, accounting for at
least 30% of all diabetes patients in the PRC according to IMS primary
research. Moreover, this class of drugs also has other beneficial effects that
are expected to drive physician prescription, such as lowering the risk of
hypoglycemia and promoting β-cell regeneration, important clinical advantages
in managing Type 2 diabetes complications in the long term.
About Uni-PTH
Uni-PTH (Parathyroid hormone 1-34 analogue or rhPTH
(1-34)) is an effective agent treating osteoporosis and ostealgia. It is a
Class VII prescription new drug and is the world's only anabolic (bone growing)
agent. Uni-PTH has the potential to offer patients in China an affordable and
effective treatment option for osteoporosis and ostealgia compared to current
treatment options. Currently, the PRC osteoporosis market is expected to be
worth RMB 15.5 billion (approximately one fifth of the global osteoporosis market)
and will continue to grow quickly largely due to increasing prevalence of
osteoporosis among the female and elderly population, rising standards of
living and increasing awareness and education in bone health.
