BioVersys AG, based in the Basel Technology Park (Switzerland), has received strategic financing of 6 million US dollars (around 5.4 million euros) from the Chinese investment company Guangzhou Sino-Israel Bio-Industry Investment Fund 2 LLP (GIBF). According to the pharmaceutical company, the investment followed BioVersys’ strategic decision to expand the clinical development of its lead product BV100 in China.
The company expects great market opportunities as the resistance rate in Chinese hospitals will increase from 32 to 41 percent in 2005 to over 75 percent in 2028. BioVersys expects that clinical trial support from GIBF and its extensive network in China will facilitate and accelerate the clinical development of BV100.
In order to include China in BioVersys’ planned global Phase III clinical trial, a smaller Phase I study in healthy volunteers is first required to confirm the safety and pharmacokinetic profile of BV100 in the Chinese population. This Phase I study is scheduled to begin in early 2025. If positive, the Chinese study centers will then become part of the planned global Phase III registration trial, which could enable market entry into several global healthcare markets in parallel.
“We have long recognized the enormous potential of the Chinese market,” says Dr. Marc Gitzinger, CEO of BioVersys. “And since BV100 has already shown that it can become an important anti-infective, we look forward to starting our clinical trial in China and making BV100 available to patients in China and other markets as soon as possible.”
GBIF is an investment fund that also provides access to conduct clinical trials in Chinese specialty hospitals. Since its inception in 2016, it has raised $400 million and invested in projects that strategically “will significantly impact the Chinese healthcare system,” commented Dr. Shuki Gleitman, founding partner and chairman of the Guangzhou-Israel Biotechnology Fund. “Antibiotic resistance has become a leading cause of death, and BV100 has already generated impressive clinical data that we believe will make it an important part of the treatment portfolio of hospitals in China and around the world. We look forward to supporting BioVersys in its efforts to develop innovative anti-infectives in China.”
