With CX-5461, the first DDR anticancer drug using the G-quadruplex (G-4) mechanism in clinical stage, Senhwa was awarded the “14th National Innovation Award-Corporate Innovation Award” for its novelty and potential to lead the next generation of precision medicine. This award was founded by the Institute for Biotechnology and Medicine Industry (IBMI) and it’s one of the most iconic awards in Taiwan. Senhwa was winning this award with its unique core technology and development strategy. The awarding ceremony will be held on 9th Dec. 2017 at the Nangang Exhibition Hall.
The former principal of National Taiwan University Pan-Chyr Yang served as general coordinator and the panel members were key opinion leaders from industry, government, academia and research field. After three stages of selection and review, Senhwa was standing out and the panel commented: "CX-5461 is designed for the inhibition of DNA damage response and its mechanism plays an active role in the G-4 structure of nucleic acid within cancer cells. It leads the trend of targeted therapy. Further, phase I / II clinical trial of CX-5461 in breast cancer is currently underway in Canada and phase I trial of hematological malignancies has completed in Australia. Apart from clinical progress, Senhwa has the vision and strategic plans aiming at the global main drug market and therefore have considerable potential for international competition. "
Winning this award, Dr. Tai-Sen Soong, the CEO of Senhwa said: "Thanks to the panel’s recognition of Senhwa team in research and development. In the highly competitive new drug industry, Senhwa has been striving for betterment and obtaining recognition and grants worldwide. CX-5461 was selected as the 2015 SU2C-CBCF dream team drug and funded CAD$ 9M for a 4-year sponsorship. Its novel mechanism of synthetic lethality was also published in the renowned SCI scientific journal “Nature Communications” in February this year. In addition, the result of phase I data of CX-5461 in the treatment of Hematological malignancies has been accepted by the 59th ASH annual meeting and will be presented on 11th Dec, 2017. Therefore, winning this prize in our own country is very encouraging and of particular significance to us. "
Senhwa is committed to the development in the "DDR Novel Mechanism" and it’s the latest trend in the anticancer drugs development worldwide. Apart from multiple indications, CX-5461 has also the potential to become rescue medication to overcome the drug resistance caused by the first generation DDR drugs. According to a industry report forecast that DDR drugs will create the market of more than US$ 20 billion globally, which is another crucial trend of drug development after immunotherapy.