Hualing pharmaceutical raised US $25 million to develop new diabetes drug therapy

With the integration of China's pharmaceutical market and the international market, Chinese local pharmaceutical companies are gradually going out of the country, and are widely concerned by market people at home and abroad Recently, Hualing pharmaceutical, headquartered in Shanghai, announced that it has completed a total of 25 million US dollars in venture capital financing The money will be used to develop new drug therapies for diabetes It is worth noting that the investors of this financing include many professional venture capital companies in China and the United States Among them, ally bridge group led the financing process, while arch venture partners in the United States, venlock and Sinopharm Kant and other major pharmaceutical companies have participated in the financing process Hualing pharmaceutical hopes to use this investment to promote the second phase clinical research of sinogliatin, a type 2 diabetes drug developed by the company Sinogliatin of Hualing pharmaceutical is the fourth generation of glucokinase activator drug authorized by Roche, a famous pharmaceutical giant The drug can help the body activate glucokinase in the body so that the body can better recognize glucose and promote the secretion of more insulin to lower blood sugar Before that, some pharmaceutical companies, such as MSD, tried to develop similar therapies, but all failed in the end, but Hualing pharmaceutical believes it can make a difference in this field At present, sinoglitin is in the second phase of clinical research in China The researchers recruited about 280 patients in mainland China to study the hypoglycemic effect of sinogliatin after 12 weeks of treatment It is expected that this phase II clinical study will be completed by the end of 2015 Not only that, Hualing pharmaceutical also has ambitious plans to enter the U.S market This year, the company will carry out a phase I clinical study of sinogliatin in the United States This financing of Hualing pharmaceutical has played a very positive role in China's pharmaceutical industry On the one hand, in line with the international market, accepting the investment of international capital is conducive to the development and growth of Chinese local pharmaceutical enterprises as soon as possible; in addition, this research and development project will also stimulate Chinese local pharmaceutical enterprises to pay more attention to the development of original research drugs, and further promote the process of fruit transformation and product research and development of China's biomedical industry Shanghai's Hua medicine halted in a $25 million b round to advance its work on a new treatment for diabetes, bringing in investors from the U.S and China as it moves towards late stage development Ally bridge group, ba sed in Hong Kong and the U.S., led the funding round, joined by a syndicate that includes Arch Venture Partners, Venrock and WuXi PharmaTech ($WX), China's largest CRO With the cash, Hua will pay the way through Phase II for its lead candidate, a Type 2 diabetes drug in the midst of Chinese trials The drug, sinogliatin, is a fourth-generation glucokinase activator in-licensed from Roche ($RHHBY), belo nging to a class of therapies that help the body better recognize glucose and thus produce more insulin, lowering ba seline blood sugars Similar therapies from Merck ($MRK) and others never made it to market, but Hua believes its drug has a novel mechanism of action that sets it apart from its forebears in the space The plan now is to kick off a 280-patient Phase II trial in China, the company said, testing to see how well sinogliatin can reduce blood glucose at 12 weeks and wrapping up enrollment by the end of 2015 At the same time, Hua plans to begin developing of the drug in the U.S., filing an IND this quarter and completing Phase I studies by year's end Beyond its lead asset, Hua plans to spend some of its new funds on an early-stage candidate for central nervous system diseases, the company said, while bankrolling the preclinical development of its other pipeline assets Hua's fundraise illustrates a growing trend in biopharma: While Western outfits have long been interested in China's commercial appeal, more and more drugmakers and investors are now prizing the country's R&D capabilities Merck, Sanofi ($SNY) and Novartis ($NVS) are among the many to blueprint standalone research hubs in China, while venture outfits including OrbiMed have turned a particular focus to biotech startups in the region And Hua, according to Ally Bridge founder Frank Yu, is emblematic of what the country has to offer on that front "Hua Medicine represents a great example of world-class innovation in China, wher locally-developed innovative drugs at affordable prices are stro ngly needed, with the additio nal opportunity of taking such innovation overseas," Yu said