Huya Bioscience International Expands Senior Management Team

SAN DIEGO, March 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- HUYA Bioscience International (HUYA) today announced the appointment of Akira Miyazato, MD, Ph.D. as VP, Head of Clinical Research and Development in Japan. His addition to the senior management team will support the Company's advancement of its lead anti-cancer drug HBI-8000 through accelerated development in Japan for lymphoma.

Dr. Miyazato has over 20 years of clinical, academic and industry experience in oncology especially in hematological malignancies. He has held senior level positions at Aventis, Symbio, Novartis K.K. and GlaxoSmithKline K.K. in global regulatory, translational medicine and clinical development.          

Dr. Miyazato received both his medical and graduate degree from Jichi Medical School. He is board certified in Hematology and has received numerous research and career awards.

"Dr. Miyazato's experience in clinical and translational medicine coupled with industry drug development will play a key role as we move HBI-8000 into the registration phase of development in Japan," said Dr. Mireille Gillings, CEO and Executive Chairman of HUYA. "We welcome him to the HUYA Senior Management team, where he will head development for our offices in Tokyo and Seoul which serve as the base for our clinical operations in Asia."

About HBI-8000
HBI-8000 is a member of the benzamide class of histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors designed to block the catalytic pocket of Class I HDACs. HBI-8000 is an orally bioavailable, low-nanomolar inhibitor of cancer-associated HDAC enzymes with favorable pharmacology and safety profiles. HBI-8000 inhibits cancer-associated Class I HDAC1, HDAC2, HDAC3, as well as Class IIb HDAC10 at nanomolar concentrations and stimulates accumulation of acetylated histones H3 and H4 in tumor cells. Studies with human-derived tumor cell lines have demonstrated that HBI-8000 inhibits the growth of many tumor cell lines via multiple mechanisms of action, including epigenetic regulation of tumor cell growth and apoptosis, immunomodulatory effects regulating antitumor activity, as well as repression of genes associated with drug resistance.

HBI-8000 became the first benzamide HDAC inhibitor approved worldwide when the drug was approved for the treatment of peripheral T cell lymphoma (PTCL) in China, where it is now marketed under the trade name Epidaza.  In 2013, HUYA was the first company to use the China-Japan-Korea Tripartite Cooperation Treaty to reach an accelerated development path for Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma with Japan's Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA) based on the China data.  In 2015, Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare granted HBI-8000 orphan drug designation for the treatment of PTCL.

In 2016, HUYA and Eisai Co. Ltd signed an agreement for exclusive rights to HBI-8000 in Japan and 7 other Asian countries. Under the terms of the agreement, HUYA will continue the development in lymphoma through regulatory approval. Eisai will commercialize the product for lymphoma and other future indications including for solid tumors. 

About HUYA Bioscience International
HUYA Bioscience International is the leader in enabling and accelerating the global development of novel biopharmaceutical product opportunities originating in China. Extensive collaborations are established with Chinese biopharmaceutical, academic and commercial organizations to speed development and value creation in worldwide markets for China-sourced product candidates. With the largest Chinese compound portfolio covering all therapeutic areas, HUYA has emerged as the partner-of-choice for maximizing the value of biopharmaceutical innovation in China. In addition, to the lead compound HBI-8000, the Company also has two other pipeline drugs in development for arrhythmia and acute myocardial infarct.  HUYA has offices in the U.S., Japan, South Korea and eight strategic locations across China. With the largest team of scientists working with Chinese innovators, HUYA identifies and advances promising drug candidates globally. HUYA received the Asia-Pacific Stevie® Award in the Health Products and Services & Pharmaceuticals category and Dr. Mireille Gillings received the Gold Stevie Award in the Woman of the Year 2015 American Business Award category. For more information, please visit www.huyabio.com.

Contact details:
Yiota Merianos
HUYA Corporate Communications
+1 858 353 1217
[email protected]

SOURCE HUYA Bioscience International

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