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Highlights

Dr. Hao Hong, Chairman and CEO of Asymchem, awarded the “2019 Golden Bull Business Leadership Award”

On November 19, the “2020 High Quality Development Forum for Listed Companies and 22nd Golden Bull Award Ceremony for Listed Companies” was held in Haikou, Hainan Province and was sponsored by the China Securities Journal. During the ceremony, Dr. Hao Hong, Chairman and CEO of Asymchem, was awarded the “2019 Golden Bull Business Leadership Award”. The Golden Bull Award is one of the most credible and influential authoritative awards in China’s capital market. The award is based on quantitative indexes and adhering to the principles of openness, fairness and equity. Over the past twenty years, under the leadership of Dr. Hao Hong, Asymchem has achieved steady growth, profitability and strong comprehensive strength demonstrating Asymchem’s value and influence as a listed company.

Dr. Hao Hong, Chairman and CEO of Asymchem, attended the “2020 China Pharmaceutical Entrepreneurs, Scientists and Investors Conference”

On November 28, “2020 China Pharmaceutical Entrepreneurs, Scientists and Investors Conference”, co-sponsored by China Pharmaceutical Enterprise Management Association, China Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Association and the General Office of the Central Committee of the Chinese Peasants, Workers and Democrats Party, was held at the Hangzhou International Expo Center. Dr. Hao Hong, Chairman and CEO of Asymchem, was invited to attend the Roundtable session, “Quality and Track of Innovation”. The in-depth exchange with the guests focused on the speed of listing of pharmaceutical companies, the value of scientists and entrepreneurial teams, the most valuable structural issues in the development of China’s pharmaceutical innovation and other hotspots.

Technology Updates

Asymchem’s Peptide Biosynthesis Platform

Peptide drugs have many advantages over small molecule drugs and protein drugs, such as strong stability, strong specificity, and weak immunogenicity. The specific advantages of peptides make them unique in drug development and have high clinical value. To assist in the development of peptide drugs, Asymchem has established an efficient peptide synthesis technology platform with microbial expression and two-step purification. The platform has successfully carried out small-scale synthesis of pharmaceutical peptides with a capacity of >300 mg/L, which is much higher than the highest level of 100-120 mg/L reported in the literature.

Asymchem Completes Proof-of-Concept for Cell-free Synthesis

Cell-free synthetic biotechnology is a powerful and flexible cutting-edge technology that is free from the constraints of living cells. It can be used for the design and modification of biological components and systems, with a wide range of applications in the life sciences. It provides a simpler and faster engineering solution than cell-based systems, allowing the freedom to design systems in a non-cellular environment. Asymchem has successfully completed a proof-of-concept cell-free synthesis with a pilot protein yield of 3~4 mg/mL, exceeding the protein yield of ~2 mg/ml.

Custom Developed and Designed Continuous Hydrochloric Acid Hydrolysis Equipment

Asymchem developed and designed continuous hydrochloric acid hydrolysis equipment. The reaction time was reduced to 1/5 of the batch reaction time. The daily processing capacity of each set is 160kg, and it can be used in parallel for easy amplification.

Patent Granted: “A Method of Synthesizing Thiopental Side Chains”

Asymchem’s patent“a method of synthesizing thiopental side chain” was granted (Authorization Notice No. CN109796434B). The method adopts biological conversion steps such as monooxygenase, ketone reductase, etc., effectively reducing the amount of chemical reagents such as ethyl acetate. It can solve the existing technical problems in the synthesis of thiopental side chain which requires a large amount of solvent.

Patent Granted: “Continuous Synthesis Method for Non-Amides”

Asymchem’s patent “Continuous Synthesis Method of Feminamide” was granted (Authorization Notice No. CN109438374B). The continuous synthesis method not only avoids the isomerization step in the conventional route and simplifies the purification step of the final product, but also reduces the process cost and effectively shortens the reaction route; meanwhile, the heat exchange speed of the reaction system in the synthesis device is higher, and the reaction conditions are more violent but safer.

Newly Joined Talent

Dr. Mina Wang

Dr. Mina Wang, joined Asymchem in October 2020, as the Executive Director of the Analysis and Testing Center of Asymchem’s Shanghai Biologics site. She is responsible for the technical direction, department management and project management of the QA&QC Department. Dr. Wang has served as CSO of Merck, Senior Scientist of Janssen Pharmaceuticals, and COO of BART Bio. She has 18 years of experience in innovative drug analysis with extensive accumulation in quality analysis and control of biologic drugs, characterization analysis, identification, and product release of biologic antibodies and peptides, also in the writing of clinical applications. In 2019, she was awarded the title of “High-end Foreign Expert” by the China Ministry of Science and Technology.