Chung Mei Biopharma Co Ltd (中美生技醫藥) yesterday inked a technology transfer agreement with the Development Center for Biotechnology (DCB, 生物技術開發中心) to commercialize DCB-BO130, a new botanical drug for melanoma, the most dangerous type of skin cancer.
The drug is made from extracts of Crassocephalum crepidioides, a common herb also known as fireweed.
The herb’s anti-inflammatory properties were discovered by Academica Sinica researchers, who passed their findings on to the center for further research, Chung Mei Biopharma chairman Lin Ben-yuan (林本源) said, adding that the transfer represents the nation’s biggest-ever technology transfer agreement.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on March 20 approved DCB-BO130’s phase 1b/2a clinical trials, the company said, adding that it plans to seek permission from local health authorities to begin clinical trials before the end of the year.
The drug is expected to gain New Drug Application approval from the FDA in the third quarter of 2024, the company said.
To speed up commercialization efforts, Chung Mei Biopharma is planning to apply for Orphan Drug Designation from the FDA next year to gain prioritized clinical trial reviews and other benefits such as tax exemptions and 10-year exclusivity, the company said.
In addition, Chung Mei Biopharma is to develop DCB-BO130 as a combination treatment for melanoma and develop supplement products based on the herb’s anti-inflammatory attributes, it said.
The company hopes to offer the drug at a more accessible price than existing melanoma treatments, which can cost from NT$100,000 to NT$1.28 million (US$3,315 to US$42,432) per month, it said.
Botanical drugs have significantly lower toxicity and less side effects than conventional, small-molecule drugs, and their market potential remains relatively untapped, DCB president and chief operating officer Lawrence Gan (甘良生) said.
The market for botanical drugs is expected to reach US$26.6 billion by the end of this year, while the market for melanoma treatments is expected to surge from US$1.34 billion to US$5.64 billion by 2023, Gan said.
Founded in 2014, Chung Mei Biopharma is an affiliate of Chung Mei Enterprise Group (中美集團), which is headed by its flagship unit, Chung Mei Pharmaceutical Co Ltd (中美兄弟製藥), a drug manufacturer that was founded in 1936 and produces Taiwan’s top-selling stool softeners and treatments for parasitic roundworm.
Lin, who is also president of Chung Mei Pharmaceutical, said that Chung Mei Biopharma is seeking to make its debut on the local bourse through its new drug development affiliate.
Nvidia Corp earned its US$2.2 trillion market cap by producing artificial intelligence (AI) chips that have become the lifeblood powering the new era of generative AI developers from start-ups to Microsoft Corp, OpenAI and Google parent Alphabet Inc. Almost as important to its hardware is the company’s nearly 20 years’ worth of computer code, which helps make competition with the company nearly impossible. More than 4 million global developers rely on Nvidia’s CUDA software platform to build AI and other apps. Now a coalition of tech companies that includes Qualcomm Inc, Google and Intel Corp plans to loosen Nvidia’s chokehold by going
DECOUPLING? In a sign of deeper US-China technology decoupling, Apple has held initial talks about using Baidu’s generative AI technology in its iPhones, the Wall Street Journal said China has introduced guidelines to phase out US microprocessors from Intel Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) from government PCs and servers, the Financial Times reported yesterday. The procurement guidance also seeks to sideline Microsoft Corp’s Windows operating system and foreign-made database software in favor of domestic options, the report said. Chinese officials have begun following the guidelines, which were unveiled in December last year, the report said. They order government agencies above the township level to include criteria requiring “safe and reliable” processors and operating systems when making purchases, the newspaper said. The US has been aiming to boost domestic semiconductor
ENERGY IMPACT: The electricity rate hike is expected to add about NT$4 billion to TSMC’s electricity bill a year and cut its annual earnings per share by about NT$0.154 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has left its long-term gross margin target unchanged despite the government deciding on Friday to raise electricity rates. One of the heaviest power consuming manufacturers in Taiwan, TSMC said it always respects the government’s energy policy and would continue to operate its fabs by making efforts in energy conservation. The chipmaker said it has left a long-term goal of more than 53 percent in gross margin unchanged. The Ministry of Economic Affairs concluded a power rate evaluation meeting on Friday, announcing electricity tariffs would go up by 11 percent on average to about NT$3.4518 per kilowatt-hour (kWh)
OPENING ADDRESS: The CEO is to give a speech on the future of high-performance computing and artificial intelligence at the trade show’s opening on June 3, TAITRA said Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) chairperson and chief executive officer Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) is to deliver the opening keynote speech at Computex Taipei this year, the event’s organizer said in a statement yesterday. Su is to give a speech on the future of high-performance computing (HPC) in the artificial intelligence (AI) era to open Computex, one of the world’s largest computer and technology trade events, at 9:30am on June 3, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) said. Su is to explore how AMD and the company’s strategic technology partners are pushing the limits of AI and HPC, from data centers to