On 16 January 2017, “Ceremony for Commencement of Strategic Cooperation between Fosun Pharma and Kite Pharma” is held at Shanghai Marriott Hotel Parkview. Chen Qiyu, Chairman of Fosun Pharma, Guo Guangchang, Chairman of Fosun Group, Arie Belldegrun, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Kite Pharma, Professor Chen Saijuan, Director of National Research Center for Translational Medicine (Shanghai) and head of Shanghai Institute of Hematology, Vice Director of Chen Yaoshui, Shanghai Municipal Food and Drug Administration, and Yang Ye, Vice Director of Zhangjiang Management Bureau for  Management Committee of China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, secretary of a Party leadership group and Director of Management Committee of Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park attended and presented at the ceremony. Chen Qiyu, Arie Belldegrun, Wu Yifang, President and CEO of Fosun Pharma, and Helen Kim, Executive Vice President for Business Development jointly unveiled the crystal lighting cube and announced the official commencement for strategic cooperation in China by both parties.

Fosun Pharma on 11 January 2017 announced to establish a sino-foreign cooperative enterprise with Kite Pharma through its wholly-owned subsidiary, and introduce world-leading technology and key products for cancer treatment to benefit cancer patients with world-leading therapy.

(The scene is “Ceremony for Commencement of Strategic Cooperation between Fosun Pharma and Kite Pharma”. From left are: Helen Kim, Executive Vice President for Business Development of Kite Pharma, Arie Belldegrun, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Kite Pharma, Chen Qiyu, Chairman of Fosun Pharma and Wu Yifang, President and CEO of Fosun Pharma.)

“It is a commencement of cooperation for both parties to establish a sino-foreign cooperative enterprise in China. In cancer treatment area, either in the world or in China, we have a common vision of offering patients a better treatment solutions,” said Chen Qiyu. “Going forward, both parties will continue to strengthen the cooperation and increase their investment, cooperate to produce and research and develop world-leading products for treatment, build a core platform for products of immunotherapy with the Shanghai cooperative enterprise and continue to promote the development of Chinese innovative treatment solutions, thereby offering more leading products and services for cancer patients in China and the world.”

Fosun Pharma’s wholly-owned subsidiary intends to invest not more than US$80 million in the cooperative enterprise, which is incorporated in Shanghai. Through the cooperation, it can establish a leading industrial platform for T cellular immunotherapy in China by utilizing resources advantages of both parties and fully leverage industry experience and operating capability of Fosun Pharma and world-leading ability for research of development of products for T cellular immunotherapy of Kite Pharma.

“Apart from increased efforts in our R&D, we strive to cooperate with the best and advanced enterprise in the world, said Guo Guangchang, “We want Shanghai to become an influential technological innovative center in the world through our investments and cooperation.”

“We hope to introduce advanced therapy with scientific methodology to China’s market through partnership with Chinese enterprise” said Arie Belldegrun, “for the treatment of cancer patients, we will undoubtedly make an innovative breakthrough with new technical standpoint.”

Kite Pharma is the global front-runner in the field of R&D for T-cell immunotherapy. KTE-C19, its key product, is an investigational T-cell therapy for the treatment of B-cell lymphomas and leukemia. It is also the first product to be introduced under the cooperation. From the mid-term result of clinical research ZUMA-1 (the research code) of KTE-C19, KTE-C19 significantly improves the comprehensive remission rate, from 8% to 39%, of patients with lymphomas which are difficult to be treated when recurrence happens, compared with conventional salvage therapy method. The earliest patient who are treated with such therapy experienced a comprehensive remission period for 22 months with persistent remission effect and effect nearly full recovery.

The National Center for Translational Medicine will take the lead in the clinical trial of the product and participate in and complete the project jointly. “It is a great honor today to witness the strategic partnership between Fosun Pharma and Kite Pharma through win-win cooperation. Fosun Pharma is a leading listed company in China’s pharmaceutical industry while Kite Pharma has developed rapidly in cellular immunotherapy area in the world in recent years. Kite Pharma has prepared KTE-C19 products with National Cancer Institute of the U.S. (NCI), accumulated extensive experience in the treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma with good efficacy and benefitted lymphoma patients with world-leading therapy. We hope to carry out international cooperation, combined basic research and clinical test, through innovative mechanism and joint efforts of both doctors and patients, to make positive contributions to the treatment for cancer, said Chen Saijuan.

According to the Global Burden of Disease Study of WHO, the cancer mortality rose from 12% in 1990 to 15% in 2013. Cancer has been a high mortality disease, only second to cardiovascular disease. In our country, however, cancer has surpassed cardiovascular disease as the first death cause for urban and rural residents. Over 4 million cases of cancer are newly diagnosed and 2.8 million patients die of cancer per year in our country.