(Shanghai, China, December 14, 2023) Japan's Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (GHIT Fund) announced today that it will invest approximately US$3.3 million (approximately 500 million yen) in a global multicenter Phase III clinical trial project in Africa and Southeast Asia for a new anti-malarial drug, artemether benfluorex amodiaquine triple combination formulation, led by Fosun Pharmaceuticals ("the project ") invests approximately US$3.3 million (approximately JPY500 million1 ) to advance the development and launch of this new drug. The Project will be jointly conducted by Fosun Pharma, Marubeni Corporation of Japan, the Mahidol-Oxford Research Center for Tropical Medicine in Thailand, a division of the University of Oxford ("MORU"), and the Medicines for Malaria Foundation ("MMV"), and this is the first time that the GHIT Fund has invested in a research project led by a According to GHIT, the drug candidate could address the widespread Plasmodium artemisinin partial resistance (ART-R) problem in the Greater Mekong Subregion ("GMS") in Southeast Asia2 as well as in countries in Africa, such as Rwanda and Uganda, and is expected to have significant public health benefits.

Malaria, an infectious parasitic disease transmitted by mosquitoes, infects approximately 250 million people globally each year and will kill approximately 620,000 people in 2021.3 The African region accounts for 95% of all malaria cases globally, and children under 5 years of age account for 80% of all malaria deaths in the region. In order to proactively address this neglected infectious disease, the GHIT Fund is committed to investing in new drug research and development to promote technological innovation and contribute to global health.

Mr. Wen Deyong, Chief Executive Officer of Fosun Pharma, said, "We are very pleased to join hands with the GHIT Fund to advance the clinical research of innovative anti-malaria drugs, with a view to bringing this drug to the market faster, actively addressing the growing problem of Plasmodium resistance to artemisinin-based drugs, and helping to save more lives from the malaria epidemic. Fosun Pharma is committed to further enhancing the accessibility and affordability of anti-malarial drugs through continuous innovation and our globalized operational capabilities, in an ongoing effort to build a malaria-free world.

Dr. Osamu Kunii, Chief Executive Officer of GHIT Fund, said: "We are very pleased to be a partner in Fosun Pharma's next-generation anti-malarial drug development program. Investing in late-stage clinical trials of anti-malarial drugs is an important step in advancing commercialization, and the number of malaria cases and deaths in children under the age of five is an urgent issue. This investment will significantly reduce the global malaria burden, especially in children.

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