Bayer & Hua Medicine announces strategic cooperation in the field of diabetes

On August 17, Bayer announced today that it has established a strategic cooperation with Hua Medicine, a leading innovative drug research and development company, and reached a commercial cooperation agreement in China for a new type of diabetes treatment drug dorzagliatin. This agreement will leverage Bayer's leading advantages in the field of diabetes management in China and the innovative capabilities of Hua Medicine to provide Chinese diabetic patients with new treatment options.

Jiang Wei, Executive Vice President of Bayer Group Prescription Drugs Division and President of China and Asia Pacific, and President of Bayer Group Greater China, said: “Bayer has been adhering to its long-term commitment to diabetic patients and has consistently provided innovative and reliable solutions for Chinese patients over the years. Solution. Faced with the increasingly severe challenges that diabetes has brought to Chinese public health, the cooperation with Hua Medicine will enable Bayer to better address the unmet medical needs of diabetic patients, combined with Bayer’s trusted Baitang Pin ® and Aliya® and the upcoming WaveForm dynamic blood glucose monitoring system will provide Chinese diabetic patients with an overall plan from prevention, diagnosis to treatment and complication management."

Type 2 diabetes remains an important health challenge. According to a national cross-sectional study published in the British Medical Journal in 2020, the national prevalence of type 2 diabetes is 11.2%, but the proportion of patients with glycosylated hemoglobin reaching the standard is only 49.4%. [1] Among patients receiving oral diabetes medications, the proportion of patients with fasting blood glucose and blood glucose 2 hours after a meal lower than or reaching the control target was only 51.3% and 53.4%. These observations from real-world data fully show that there are unmet medical needs in the diabetes field. For this reason, biotechnology companies have been exploring new therapies to improve diabetes management. By repairing the functional defect of the glucose sensor of glucokinase in pancreatic islets, the first new drug glucokinase activator (GKA) dorzagliatin, which is the first new mechanism under research, is expected to reshape the blood glucose homeostasis of patients with type 2 diabetes. Hua Medicine recently completed a phase III clinical trial of dorzagliatin monotherapy, and the 52-week study showed a sustained and significant effect. In addition, the 24-week core data of the Phase III clinical trial of the combination with metformin has also been announced recently, and the results show that the trial has reached the primary efficacy endpoint.

Dr. Chen Li, CEO of Hua Medicine, said: "We are very pleased to have the opportunity to join hands with Bayer to bring dorzagliatin, the first innovative drug for diabetes to Chinese patients. Bayer has been a leader in the field of diabetes treatment in China for the past 10 years. For China In terms of traditional medicine, Bayer will become an important partner to jointly promote diabetes treatment. At present, there are approximately 463 million type 2 diabetes patients in the world, of which 116 million are in China. [2] In the past 10 years, Hua Medicine has focused on curing diabetes. The goal is to transform the concept of blood glucose homeostasis regulation into a breakthrough drug for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, and for the first time through clinical trials to verify that dorzagliatin may have the potential to improve glucose metabolism and β-cell function in patients. The cooperation between Hua Medicine and Bayer will accelerate this The pace of this innovative drug to benefit a wider patient population in China."

According to the terms of the agreement, Hua Medicine, as the drug marketing license holder, will be responsible for clinical development, registration, product supply and distribution; Bayer, as the promotion service provider, will be responsible for the marketing, promotion and medical education activities of the product in China. Hua Medicine will receive an advance payment of 300 million yuan, and it will also receive an additional milestone payment of up to 4.18 billion yuan. Bayer has obtained the exclusive right to commercialize this product in China and will receive service fees based on a certain percentage of Hualing's net sales. Both parties will share the net sales income from the product in China in the initial stage, and adjust the sales income distribution ratio accordingly when the future sales reach a certain level.

Dr. Marianne De Backer, member of the Executive Committee of Bayer Group’s Prescription Drugs Division and Head of Global Strategy and Business Development, said: “China is the focus of Bayer’s cooperation strategy. We have been continuously looking for relevant assets and medical and health technologies to help solve patients. Unmet major medical needs. Through this new cooperation, we will use the company's expertise in business operations in China and its leadership in the diabetes field, combined with the external advantages of our partners, to provide more treatments for hundreds of millions of type 2 diabetes patients in China plan selection."

Bayer's prescription drug business development team facilitated this collaboration.


About Dorzagliatin

Dorzagliatin is the first dual-acting channel glucokinase activator under research, which aims to control the progression of diabetic progressive degenerative diseases by restoring blood glucose homeostasis in patients with type 2 diabetes. By repairing the defect of the glucose sensor function of glucokinase, dorzagliatin has the potential to restore the impaired blood glucose homeostasis in patients with type 2 diabetes. It can be used as a standard treatment for the disease or used in combination with currently approved hypoglycemic drugs.