Ascentage Pharma Approved To Start China Trial Of Apoptosis Drug

July 18, 2017 -- Ascentage Pharma was granted Investigational New Drug (IND) approval by the CFDA for APG-1252, a novel Bcl-2/Bcl-XL inhibitor. APG-1252, one of three programmed cell death candidates in Ascentage's development pipeline, started a Phase I trial in the US earlier this year. The trial will enroll patients with small cell lung cancer. Ascentage is headquartered in Hong Kong, but operates an R&D facility in Shanghai and a lab/manufacturing facility in Taizhou's China Medical City. The company raised $72 million in a B round in late 2016.