Crown Bioscience, Inc. Enters into Strategic Partnership with Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine Co., Ltd. for the Discovery and Commercialization of Novel Therapeutic Monoclonal Antibodies

CROWN BIOSCIENCE, INC., A LEADING GLOBAL DRUG DISCOVERY COMPANY, AND JIANGSU HENGRUI MEDICINE CO., LTD. (“HENGRUI”), A MAJOR CHINESE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANY, TODAY ANNOUNCED THAT CROWNBIO TAICANG BIOLOGICS DIVISION, A WHOLLY OWNED SUBSIDIARY OF CROWN BIOSCIENCE, INC., AND HENGRUI HAVE ENTERED INTO A STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP FOR THE DISCOVERY AND COMMERCIALIZATION OF A NOVEL THERAPEUTIC MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY (“MAB”) FOR THE CHINESE AND GLOBAL MARKET.

CrownBio and Hengrui have jointly evaluated multiple target opportunities and selected one that fits the two parties’ strategic interest and strength. With this partnership, Crown Biologics will lead the discovery program and deliver a humanized therapeutic antibody IND candidate. Hengrui will be responsible for further development and commercialization against major life threatening diseases in China and globally. CrownBio will receive research support and success-based incentive payment. “CrownBio is very pleased to establish its second long-term strategic partnership with a leading Chinese pharmaceutical company . This has certainly marked another milestone for CrownBio’s China initiative, which leverages our world class talent and drug discovery expertise in a focused disease area to advance innovative pharmaceutical products for patients.” Dr. Alex Wu, CEO of CrownBio, commented. “China’s bio-pharmaceutical market is entering an unprecedented growth era and poised to become the 2nd largest pharmaceutical market after the US. Our partnership with leading innovation driven pharmaceutical companies, such as Hengrui, demonstrates our commitment to bringing innovative medicines to patients.”

Dr. Lianshan Zhang, Hengrui’s President of Global R&D, added, “Hengrui is pleased to work with the talented team at CrownBio to accelerate our commitment to build a globally competitive therapeutic portfolio for Hengrui. We expect this partnership will bring two outstanding companies together and create a sustainable and successful long-term collaboration with win-win outcomes.”

Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine Co., Ltd., established in 1970, is a fully integrated pharmaceutical company in China, with net sales of about US$550 million in 2010. The company has been experiencing organic growth at an annual rate of 25% in the past few years. It is recognized as the top innovative home-grown drug company, with over a dozen of new molecular entities in clinical trials and dozens more under pre-clinical development. Hengrui’s products and R&D span over multiple therapeutic areas, such as oncology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, CNS, inflammation, hematology and anesthesiology. For more information, please visit http://www.hrs.com.cn/.

Founded in 2006, Crown Bioscience is a premier drug discovery company providing cutting-edge translational platforms and cost effective drug discovery solutions for its biotech and pharmaceutical partners in dedicated therapeutic areas: Oncology and Metabolic Disease. Our proprietary HuPrime®, HuKemia®, HuBase ™, and HuMark ™, platforms enable unique lead optimization and translational strategies to deliver superior clinical candidates. Headquartered in Santa Clara California, Crown Bioscience has operations in China (Beijing and Jiangsu Taicang) and the USA (NC) with business offices in the Boston, Princeton, RTP, Phoenix, Milan and Shanghai. For more information, please visit https://www.crownbio.com.