Betta Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. was established in 2003 and is headquartered in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. It is a national high-tech enterprise established by an experienced team with talented returnees, focusing on research and development (R&D) of innovative drugs, with entire close loops of R&D, manufacturing, and sales. On Nov. 7th,2016, Betta Pharmaceuticals was successfully listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange with the stock code: 300558.SZ.
The company has more than 1,700 employees, and has established a senior executive team for innovative drug discovery and commercialization, including dozens of returnees (Ph.D.). The company has set up R&D centers in Beijing, Hangzhou. The company independently developed China's first small molecule anti-cancer drug for EGFR-targeted therapy——Icotinib hydrochloride (trade name: Conmana®), which was approved by the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) in June 2011. Conmana® has won the Gold Prize of China Patent Award twice as well as the China Industrial Award. It has also been awarded for the National Prize for Progress in Science and Technology, as the first such award granted to a China's chemical pharmaceutical industry and to a Zhejiang enterprise.
In November 2020, Ensartinib hydrochloride capsule (trade name: Ensacove®), which is an innovative drug with independent intellectual property rights, that was jointly developed by Betta and its holding subsidiary Xcovery, was approved by NMPA. It became the first Category 1.1 new drug manufactured domestically in China for the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with ALK mutations, which has filled the gap in the same class of drugs in China.
In November 2021, the Bevacizumab injection jointly developed by Betta and Beijing Mabworks Biotechnology Co., Ltd. was officially approved for marketing, with approved indication is of metastatic colorectal cancer and advanced, metastatic, or recurrent NSCLC. Bevacizumab became the company's first approved biological macromolecular drug, which is also the third marketed drug and the first bevacizumab biosimilar in Zhejiang.
In May 2023, Betta’s fourth marketed drug Befotertinib (trade name: Surmana®) was approved. The third-generation EGFR-TKI is indicated for locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC with T790M mutation due to first-generation EGFR-TKI resistance. The launch of the drug demonstrates Betta’s remarkable R&D capability. The Lancet Respiratory Medicine commented that Befotertinib (Surmana®) as a new candidate in the field of EGFR-mutant advanced NSCLC that can be considered as an alternative strategy for patients in China.
In June 2023, the Category 1 innovative drug Vorolanib was approved by the NMPA used in combination with Everolimus, indicated for the treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma who progressed after TKI treatment. The drug demonstrates a breakthrough in the field of domestic innovative drugs for renal cell carcinoma.
The company gives full play to its role as the main body of scientific and technological innovation, and continues to increase investment in research and development of new drugs for major diseases that seriously affect human health.Betta’s R&D expenditure increased continuously in the past three years, and has an average of over 40% of the company’s total expenditure. The company has a robust in-house portfolio, 2 programs have been granted NDA approval, and 23 have entered various clinical stages. Ensartinib is currently under FDA review for US market approval, and has the potential to become the first globally launched small-molecule anti-cancer innovative drug led by a Chinese company.
Actively responding the call from the industry, the company also set up a healthcare innovation incubator platform——Betta Dreamworks, to help more scientists achieve their dreams of innovation and entrepreneurship.