GSK has entered an exclusive strategic collaboration with Sino Biopharmaceutical (SBP Group), through its subsidiary Chia Tai Tianqing Pharmaceutical Group (CTTQ), to sell its experimental chronic hepatitis B therapy in China, the company announced on 11 May.
Bepirovirsen is a potential first-in-class treatment for chronic hepatitis B and is currently under priority regulatory review in China.
Mike Crichton, President International, GSK, said: “Chronic hepatitis B affects 75 million people in China and is a leading cause of liver cancer in the country.
“By combining GSK’s innovation with CTTQ’s extensive local scale and execution, we want to reach more patients, deliver greater impact, and directly address one of China’s most pressing healthcare priorities.”
The deal
Under the agreement, CTTQ, a market leader in hepatitis B in China, will purchase bepirovirsen from GSK for supply for an initial term of five and a half years, as GSK books sales of bepirovirsen supplied to CTTQ.
CTTQ will be responsible for importation, distribution, hospital access and promotional and non-promotional activities for bepirovirsen in mainland China.
GSK will remain the marketing authorisation holder and retain responsibility for regulatory, quality, pharmacovigilance and global medical strategy.
The deal provides scaled access to more than 5,000 medical centres in China at launch and gives GSK the ability to review SBP Group’s early-stage pipeline for potential collaboration opportunities outside China.
The term of the agreement may be extended by mutual agreement.
Chronic hepatitis B in China
Chronic hepatitis B is a national health priority in China.
The latest National Action Plan for the Prevention and Treatment of Viral Hepatitis (2025–2030) has set out functional cure – when hepatitis B virus DNA and surface antigen are undetectable in the blood for at least six months after stopping all therapy – as a treatment goal for hepatitis B.
Bepirovirsen was granted Breakthrough Therapy designation in China in August 2021 and subsequently accepted for Priority Review in April 2026.
This follows positive results from the B-Well 1 and B-Well 2 phase 3 trials, which demonstrated statistically significant and clinically meaningful functional cure rates.
Featured image: Artur on Adobe Stock
