CR Double-Crane, Ligand Join Hands on New Drug for COVID-19 Treatment

CR Double-Crane, a subsidiary of China Resources (Holdings) Co., Ltd. (CR), and Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (Ligand), an American company, recently reached an agreement on jointly developing a RNA polymerase oral inhibitor for treatment of COVID-19.

The drug will use Ligand's BEPro technology and CR Double-Crane will obtain exclusive development and commercialization rights of the new drug in major Asian regions.

It is the second cross-border innovative drug project from the company this year and is still in the research stage.

The BEPro technology is Ligand's latest proprietary prodrug technology and is specifically applicable to nucleotides and nucleotide analogs for development of improved product profiles. 

(Executive editor: Niu Yilin)