Released: Wednesday, May 13, 2026, Source: WeChat Official Account "Yi Mai Ke"

On May 11, GlaxoSmithKline ("GSK") and Sino Biopharmaceutical Co., Ltd. ("Sino Biopharm") through its core subsidiary Chia Tai Tianqing Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd. ("CTTQ") jointly announced an exclusive strategic collaboration to accelerate the launch of bepirovirsen in China. Bepirovirsen is a first-in-class therapy under development for the treatment of adult chronic hepatitis B (CHB), demonstrating clinically meaningful functional cure rates. It has been granted priority review by the Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE) of China's National Medical Products Administration (NMPA).

Hepatitis B is a viral liver infection that can cause acute or chronic liver disease. Chronic hepatitis B refers to cases where the immune system cannot clear the virus, leading to long-term infection affecting over 250 million people worldwide. The disease causes approximately 1.1 million deaths annually. Many patients require lifelong antiviral treatment to suppress the virus, making functional cure a key goal in disease management. It is estimated that China has approximately 75 million hepatitis B virus carriers, with over 450,000 hepatitis B virus-related deaths annually.

Bepirovirsen is a triple-mechanism investigational antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) that inhibits viral DNA replication in vivo, reduces blood hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) levels, and stimulates the immune system to improve the chance of a durable response. Bepirovirsen achieved positive results in two pivotal Phase III trials, B-Well 1 (NCT05630807) and B-Well 2 (NCT05630820), demonstrating statistically significant and clinically meaningful functional cure rates, supporting marketing authorization submissions.

The press release noted that this collaboration will support bepirovirsen's coverage of more than 5,000 medical institutions in China during its launch phase. CTTQ holds a market-leading position in China's hepatitis B field, with one of the most comprehensive liver disease product portfolios domestically, and has played a significant role in advancing the diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis B in China.

By integrating GSK's innovative capabilities with CTTQ's local scale and market execution strengths, this strategic collaboration will jointly enhance the accessibility of bepirovirsen in China, enabling more patients to benefit sooner. Under the agreement terms, CTTQ will be responsible for the importation, distribution, hospital access, and promotional and non-promotional activities of bepirovirsen in mainland China. GSK will continue to serve as the Marketing Authorization Holder (MAH), overseeing regulatory affairs, quality control, pharmacovigilance, and global medical strategy.

Under the agreement terms, CTTQ will purchase bepirovirsen from GSK during the initial 5.5-year cooperation period according to agreed supply terms. Thereafter, the parties may extend the cooperation period by mutual agreement. Bepirovirsen supplied to CTQ through this collaboration will be recorded as GSK's sales revenue. The agreement will also provide GSK with the opportunity to explore potential collaboration opportunities outside China for certain early-stage R&D pipeline assets of Sino Biopharm.

On May 12, RayBio Pharma (Ribobio) announced the formal signing of a strategic cooperation agreement with Insilico Medicine. The two parties will leverage their respective core advantages in small nucleic acid drug development and AI-driven pharmaceutical innovation to conduct in-depth collaboration around target discovery, drug molecule design and optimization, AI-assisted drug development and clinical translation, jointly advancing demonstration application projects and results translation. Through AI+siRNA combined innovation, they aim to accelerate the small nucleic acid drug R&D process and help conquer unmet clinical needs.

Small nucleic acid drugs utilize the RNAi mechanism to achieve precise silencing of pathogenic genes. With core advantages including extremely broad target coverage, digital design capability, short development cycles, and ultra-long duration leading to high patient compliance, they are leading the "Third Wave of Modern Pharmaceuticals." The deep empowerment of AI technology will further enhance the R&D efficiency and success rate of siRNA drugs, helping accelerate breakthroughs in "undruggable" targets that traditional approaches struggle to address, providing new treatment options for patients.

Facing the era of small nucleic acid opportunities, how to precisely break through and enter the golden track of small nucleic acids? Shanghai Zhaowei Technology has beendeeply cultivating (deeply cultivating) the nucleic acid field for nearly 30 years, committed to providing global customers with excellent nucleic acid drug R&D and production CDMO services. The company possesses mature end-to-end service platforms for small nucleic acid drugs and mRNA drugs, capable of providing clients with one-stop services from early concept validation to commercial implementation, including early feasibility synthesis evaluation, customized process development and optimization, analytical method development and validation, full-process cGMP compliant production, integrated API and formulation preparation, process scale-up and technology transfer, while supporting full-cycle CMC technical support and global regulatory filing services, comprehensively empowering nucleic acid drug R&D and industrialization.

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