BioVersys AG has received strategic funding from the Chinese investor Guangzhou Sino-Israel Bio-Industry Investment Fund 2 LLP (GIBF) amounting to 6 million US dollars, which is equivalent to approximately 5.2 million Swiss francs. According to a press release from the pharmaceutical company based at the Tech Park Basel, the investment is consistent with BioVersys’ strategic decision to expand clinical development of its main product BV100 in China.

The company anticipates great opportunities on the market based on the increase in the relevant resistance rate in Chinese hospitals from 32 to 41 percent in 2005 to over 75 percent in 2018. BioVersys believes that the support from GIBF for clinical trials and its extensive network in China will facilitate and expedite the clinical development of BV100.

Great expectations for the collaboration

In order to bring China into BioVersys’ planned international phase 3 clinical trial, a small phase 1 study involving healthy volunteers is required first in order to confirm the safety and pharmacokinetic profile of BV100 in the Chinese population. This phase 1 trial is expected to take place in 2025. The planned international phase 3 pivotal trial will then follow this.

CEO of BioVersys Dr. Marc Gitzinger commented: “We have long recognized the huge potential of the market there, and with BV100 having already demonstrated significant potential to become an essential anti-infective treatment, we look forward to getting our clinical evaluation in China underway and to bringing BV100 to patients in need as soon as possible both in China and other markets.”

Dr. Shuki Gleitman, Founding Partner and Chair of GIBF, has great expectations for the collaboration with BioVersys. He stated: “Resistance to antibiotics has become a leading cause of death and BV100 has started generating impressive clinical data, which we believe will make it a key asset in the treatment armamentarium of hospitals in China and around the world.”