Collaboration between Uni-Bio Science Group and Swiss company Ypsomed to jointly develop 2nd generation diabetes and osteoporosis products

May 05, 2020 - 08:30
Collaboration between Uni-Bio Science Group and Swiss company Ypsomed to jointly develop 2nd generation diabetes and osteoporosis products

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 Groupis a leading Swiss developer and manufacturer of injection and infusion systemsfor self-medication and a renowned diabetes specialist with over 30 years'experience. As a leader in innovation and technology, Ypsomed is the preferredpartner for pharmaceutical and biotech companies for the supply of injectionpens, autoinjectors and infusion systems to administer liquid drugs. Ypsomedpromotes and sells its product portfolio under the umbrella brands, mylife™ Diabetescaredirectly to patients or through pharmacies and clinics, and under YDS YpsomedDelivery Systems as business-to-business to pharmaceutical companies. Ypsomedhas its headquarters in Burgdorf, Switzerland, and operates a global network ofmanufacturing sites, subsidiaries and distributors. The Ypsomed Group employsaround 1700 employees.


About Uni-Bio Science Group


Uni-Bio Science Group Limited is principally engaged inthe research and development, manufacture and distribution of biopharmaceuticalproducts. The research and development center is fully equipped with a completesystem for the development of genetically-engineered products with a pilotplant test base which is in line with NMPA requirements. The Group also has twoGMP manufacturing bases in Beijing and Shenzhen. The Group also has a highlyefficient commercialization platform and marketing network. The Group focuseson the development of novel treatments and innovative drugs addressing thetherapeutic areas of endocrine as diabetes and osteoporosis, ophthalmology anddermatology. Please visit the official website of Uni-Bio Science Group formore information: www.uni-bioscience.com


About Uni-E4


Uni-E4, a GLP-1 agonist, is a non-insulin treatment candidatethat stimulates the incretin pathway and is effective in the treatment of Type2 diabetes. GLP-1 agonist is also one of the only classes of diabetic drugsshown 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 atleast 30% of all diabetes patients in the PRC according to IMS primaryresearch. Moreover, this class of drugs also has other beneficial effects thatare expected to drive physician prescription, such as lowering the risk ofhypoglycemia and promoting β-cell regeneration, important clinical advantagesin 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 aClass 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 andeffective treatment option for osteoporosis and ostealgia compared to currenttreatment options. Currently, the PRC osteoporosis market is expected to beworth RMB 15.5 billion (approximately one fifth of the global osteoporosis market)and will continue to grow quickly largely due to increasing prevalence ofosteoporosis among the female and elderly population, rising standards ofliving and increasing awareness and education in bone health.


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