Yiviva, a clinical-stage, platform biotechnology company developing systems biology medicines to treat aging-related diseases, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with AstraZeneca China to establish a research and development collaboration at AstraZeneca’s Innovation Campus (iCampus) in Chengdu, China.

To address global unmet medical needs, Together Yiviva and AstraZeneca China will jointly build platforms for scientific research transformation and industrial development led by academicians and experts. The collaberation aims to modernize botanical medicines in accordance with new regulatory pathways for botanical medicines by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and China National Medical Products Administration (NMPA).

Yiviva’s STAR (signal transduction, activity and response) drug discovery platform accelerates the identification of botanical therapeutics that influence immune function, inflammatory responses, cell growth, metabolic functions, and hormone activity. Through STAR, Yiviva can design sophisticated multi-target drugs that map to complicated disease biology. Yiviva has discovered six first-in-class drug candidates to treat cancer and inflammatory diseases. Yiviva applies patented, mechanism-based quality control linked to biological activity to manufacture batch-to-batch consistent drug product that satisfies established regulatory requirements for complex products.

Neverthless, the signing ceremony took place at the 2023 China International Import Expo (CIIE) at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai. 

“In collaboration with the Chengdu government and Chengdu High-Tech Industrial Zone (CDHT), AstraZeneca is establishing a modern healthcare development platform integrating traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine. At CIIE, AstraZeneca announced plans to further globalize Chinese medicine. Our strategic partnership with Yiviva, will advance our blueprint for how to develop innovative medicines inspired by Chinese medicine,” remarked Lily Zhu, Vice President of AstraZeneca China and Head of DCI and CSE.