Shanghai Roche Pharmaceuticals Ltd. and Ascletis BioScience Co., Ltd. have jointly announced that starting from 1st Dec 2018, Ascletis and Roche will expand their partnership in viral Hepatitis. Following the first successful partnership and promising launch for Ganovo (Danoprevir), Ascletis and Roche have decided to embark on a Pegasys partnership. Roche will grant Ascletis an exclusive sales & marketing promotion right in Mainland China for Pegasys, a leading pegylated interferon treatment for Hepatitis B and C.

"We are pleased to enter this strategic collaboration with Ascletis, a trusted partner with strong commitment to the area of viral Hepatitis, a major health concern in China. With this new model of business, we will further enhance the clinical usage of Pegasys in Hepatitis treatment in order to benefit more patients. Hepatitis B continues to be a core area of research and development at Roche. Roche has a long-term commitment to China and our investment in China continues to grow," said Hong Chow, General Manager, Roche Pharma China.

Jinzi J. Wu, PhD, Founder, Chairman and CEO at Ascletis added, "Roche has been an outstanding partner who has always put patients' needs first. Both Ascletis and Roche are committed to developing innovative Hepatitis B medicine. Ascletis has demonstrated strong development capability and solid commercial presence in China in the area of Hepatitis. The structure of this transformative collaboration will better serve China Hepatitis patients and create significant value for our shareholders. This marks a major step forward for Ascletis to address unmet needs of both Hepatitis B and C patients in China, which is in line with our strategy as a fully integrated China biotech leader focused on liver diseases."