Chase Sun, Southwest Hospital to develop sepsis drug
Shanghai. November 22. INTERFAX-CHINA - Tianjin Chase Sun Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. plans to develop a sepsis drug in collaboration with Chongqing's Southwest Hospital, the company announced Nov. 19.
According to the announcement, Chase Sun will invest RMB 42.85 million ($6.45 million) in developing the medicine, which will be China's first domestically-developed chemical drug for sepsis.
Chase Sun and Southwest Hospital will share ownership of the new drug certificate, while Chase Sun will hold exclusive production rights. The company expects the drug to be on the market in 2019 provided the project goes smoothly.
Southwest Hospital has spent 15 years deriving an active ingredient effective against sepsis from traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Southwest Hospital will lead the preclinical study, while the both sides will be involved in the clinical study stage, the announcement said.
It is estimated that at least three million people in China every year suffer from sepsis, a bacterial infection of the bloodstream.
Chase Sun already markets the TCM sepsis injection Xue Bi Jing. "So far Xue Bi Jing is the only drug approved by the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) for the treatment of sepsis in China," Shang Xiaomei, an investor relations representative from Chase Sun, told Interfax Nov. 22.
According to Shang, no other domestic drug makers produce a sepsis drug and products from foreign drug makers such as Eli Lilly have yet to enter the China market.
- MS