Sinovant Sciences, Company Focused on the Development of Innovative Medicines in China, Unveiled at Event in Beijing

-- Backed by Roivant Sciences and CITICPE, a leading Chinese asset management firm

-- Co-founded by Dr. Canwen Jiang and Dr. Xinan Chen, with offices in Beijing and Shanghai

-- Pipeline includes 11 investigational medicines which address significant unmet medical needs in China

-- Sinovant has formed partnership with China Liver Health to accelerate availability of new treatments for liver and infectious diseases in China

BEIJING and SHANGHAI, July 17, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Sinovant Sciences, a Shanghai-based biopharmaceutical company dedicated to bringing innovative medicines to China and advancing Chinese biopharmaceutical innovation abroad, unveiled its pipeline and leadership team today at an event in Beijing. Sinovant is backed by Roivant Sciences, a global healthcare company focused on reducing the time and cost of drug development, and CITICPE, a leading Chinese private equity firm. Roivant has supported Sinovant in assembling its pipeline and recruiting its senior leadership.

"We are very happy to be an investor and long-term partner of Sinovant Sciences," said CITICPE Managing Director Steven Wang. "We look forward to supporting the company to become a leading new drug research and development company in China, serving patients in China and around the world."

Sinovant began operations in 2017 and is led by co-founders Dr. Canwen Jiang and Dr. Xinan Chen. Sinovant has built a pipeline of 11 investigational biopharmaceutical products for Greater China and other Asian markets, including four therapies suitable for Phase 3 clinical trial application or registration in China. Sinovant's investigational therapies address several of China's greatest public health priorities, including liver cancer and drug-resistant bacterial infections. The company's pipeline today includes:

• Derazantinib, a fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) inhibitor in global Phase 3 development for the treatment of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA), a form of liver cancer with high incidence in Greater China and no approved therapies globally. In a prior study in patients with iCCA harboring FGFR2 gene fusions, treatment with derazantinib resulted in an objective response rate of 21%, nearly three times higher than standard-of-care chemotherapy.
• Lefamulin, an antibiotic that has successfully completed two global Phase 3 studies for community-acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP), one of the leading causes of mortality in China. Due to its novel mechanism of action, low incidence of cross-resistance with other antibacterial agents commonly used to treat CABP, and low propensity for the development of bacterial resistance, lefamulin has the potential to be used as a first-line empiric monotherapy for the treatment of CABP. Relatedly, lefamulin has been granted Qualified Infectious Disease Product (QIDP) designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and is currently in preparation for a New Drug Application submission in the US and a Marketing Authorisation Application filing in Europe.
• RVT-802, an investigational tissue-based regenerative therapy designed to treat primary immune deficiency resulting from congenital athymia associated with complete DiGeorge Anomaly, a fatal pediatric disorder. RVT-802 has been granted Breakthrough Therapy designation, Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy (RMAT) designation, rare pediatric disease designation, and orphan drug designation by the FDA. A rolling Biologics License Application submission with the FDA was initiated earlier this month.

Sinovant also announced today that it has received Chinese rights to naronapride, an investigational gastrointestinal prokinetic being developed outside of China by Renexxion. Sinovant intends to initially develop naronapride in irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C), a condition that impacts approximately 13 million individuals in China and for which few efficacious treatments are currently available. Naronapride's low systemic absorption and high specificity for 5HT4 and D2 receptors may differentiate it from other members of the class. Sinovant also plans to expand development into other gastrointestinal disorders.

"After meeting the team at Sinovant it became obvious that they were the right company to further naronapride's development in greater China," said Dr. Peter Milner, Chief Executive Officer of Renexxion.

Sinovant has also formed a partnership with China Liver Health, a leading Chinese public health nonprofit under the management of Ministry of Civil Affairs of China, to accelerate the availability of new treatments for liver disease and infectious diseases in China.

"Sinovant is developing a broad array of therapies with the potential to bring significant benefits to patients in China suffering from some of our greatest public health challenges," said Professor Lai Wei, President of China Liver Health. "We look forward to collaborating with Sinovant on the development of these and other important therapies."

Sinovant Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Canwen Jiang has over 20 years of biopharmaceutical leadership experience in both China and the United States. Prior to joining Sinovant, Dr. Jiang served as global head of R&D for multiple therapeutic areas at Novartis. Prior to Novartis, Dr. Jiang was head of global clinical development for Alcon and head Asia R&D at Genzyme. Over his career, Dr. Jiang has led more than a dozen registrational programs. Dr. Jiang completed his medical education and clinical training at Hunan College of Chinese Medicine and Hunan Medical College and a clinical fellowship in cardiology at Royal Brompton Hospital in London. He received his Ph.D. in cardiology from Imperial College London and completed an additional research fellowship in molecular and cell biology at the University of California, Berkeley.

Sinovant Co-Founder Dr. Xinan Chen is a Beijing-born entrepreneur committed to bringing innovation to the Chinese healthcare system. Dr. Chen is a physician and public health professional who has worked with the World Health Organization and Chinese health authorities to improve access and quality of healthcare delivery in China and globally. Dr. Chen received his M.D. from Brown University and his M.P.H. from Harvard University. Prior to Sinovant, Dr. Chen worked at Roivant Sciences on new company formation.

About Sinovant Sciences

Sinovant Sciences is a Chinese biopharmaceutical company dedicated to conducting globally innovative biomedical R&D in China to meet the needs of patients in China and around the world. Sinovant's mission is to develop and commercialize new medicines that address the most pressing public health challenges in China while simultaneously advancing Chinese biopharmaceutical research abroad. For more information, please visit www.sinovant.com.

About CITICPE

CITICPE is a leading asset management firm that manages multiple asset classes, including private equity, mezzanine and public market funds and other products, for a group of over 200 domestic and international investors. The firm was founded in 2008 by a world class team of investment professionals. CITICPE knows China like no one else and is a globally minded long term value investor. The firm uses its sector expertise to generate deal flow and drive the value creation work during the post-investment stage. CITICPE follows a disciplined investment approach to preserve and grow its investors' capital. The firm's private equity portfolio of more than 100 companies is highly diversified by sector and stage of investment. CITICPE takes pride in its forward-looking investment philosophy and works hard to create value over the long term for its investors and a better world. For more information, please visit www.citicpe.com.

About Roivant Sciences

Roivant is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on reducing the time and cost of the drug development process to improve the lives of patients and their families. The Roivant family of companies includes Myovant (women's health), Axovant (neurology), Urovant (urology), Enzyvant (rare diseases), Dermavant (dermatology), Genevant (RNA therapeutics), Metavant (cardiometabolic diseases), Immunovant (immunology), Altavant (next-generation drug development), Datavant (healthcare data), and Arbutus (hepatitis B). Today there are over 30 investigational drugs in 11 therapeutic areas being tested in over 50 clinical trials across the Roivant family of companies. For more information, please visit www.roivant.com.

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SOURCE Sinovant Sciences