May 21, 2024 – MindRank, a clinical stage artificial intelligence (AI)-empowered drug discovery company, and Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (“HISUN”, 600267.SH) signed a strategic cooperation agreement on AI-empowered small molecule drug discovery. This partnership commits to a long-term, in-depth collaboration, leveraging the strengths of the platform technologies, R&D facilities, and production resources from both sides.
The signing ceremony was attended by senior executives from both companies, including Weihong Xiao, President of HISUN; Dr. Houjiang Zhou, Vice President and Dean of HISUN R&D Institute of Innovative Drug; Zhangming Niu, Founder and CEO of MindRank; and Dr. Long Zhang, Co-founder and President of China at MindRank.
HISUN, a publicly listed company with more than 7,000 employees, is a highly innovative enterprise ranked among the top 10 in China in terms of annual revenue, R&D expenditure, and its social record. The company boasts a comprehensive, multi-dimensional R&D platform with multiple R&D centers in China and the United States. Their research channels cover a wide range of products and services, including anticancer, cardiovascular, anti-infective, anti-parasitics, immunosuppressant, etc. In this cooperation, MindRank will fully leverage its world-leading one-stop AI-driven drug discovery platform to advance innovative small molecule drug discovery across multiple disease areas in partnership with HISUN.
Weihong Xiao, President of HISUN, commented, “With its nearly 70-year history as a traditional pharmaceutical company, HISUN finds a complementary partner in MindRank, an AI-driven innovative drug discovery company led by young scientists and entrepreneurs. Our teams share a pragmatic work ethic and a synergistic vision, which will undoubtedly foster new ideas and integrations. This strategic collaboration will harness MindRank's expertise in AI and computational drug discovery to build a next-generation AI-driven drug development platform, accelerating the discovery of innovative drugs and providing more effective clinical treatments in a shorter timeframe.”
MindRank’s Founder Zhangming Niu and Co-Founder Dr. Long Zhang expressed their enthusiasm: “MindRank is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of AI in drug discovery, aiming to provide treatments for more diseases and help more patients. This aligns perfectly with HISUN’ mission of ‘Perseverance in drug innovation, achieving the dream of health and longevity’. By leveraging HISUN’s integrated platform for innovative drug discovery and its robust end-to-end industrialization capabilities, we look forward to accelerate the drug discovery process and deliver small molecule medicines with differentiations and clinical benefits.”
About HISUN
Founded in 1956, Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. is a comprehensive pharmaceutical enterprise featuring whole chain, multi-regional integration of research, production and marketing as well as development of drug substances and preparations. In 2000, an A-share was issued in order to enter the stock market as a state-owned listed company. As of 2021, Hisun Pharmaceutical is now one of the largest producers of antibiotics and anti-tumor drugs in China and has been listed in the Top 500 Chinese manufacturing enterprises and the Top 100 Chinese pharmaceutical enterprises multiple times.