Opening Ceremony of CStone Pharmaceuticals' Suzhou Translational Medicine Research Center and an associated Immuno-Oncology Forum was Successfully Held in Suzhou

At the beginning of the opening ceremony, Dr. Frank Jiang, the CEO of CStone Pharmaceuticals, gave a speech to welcome the guests and introduced major milestones achieved by the company since its establishment in April 2016. As a patient-centric and innovation-driven company, CStone aspires to be the leading drug development engine in China.

Innovation comes from sound scientific research and rigorous clinical trials. According to Dr. Jiang, CStone Suzhou TMRC is a cutting edge clinical research institution built according to international standards. The primary goal of the center is to accelerate clinical development through the discovery and validation of predictive biomarkers, in order to bring the right therapies to the right patients in China. Looking forward, Dr. Jiang stressed that "with the establishment of the Suzhou TMRC, CStone has solidified its global strategic roadmap. CStone expects to have several Class I innovative anti-cancer drugs at different phases of clinical development by 2020."

Dr. Huidan Zhang, Executive Dean at Harvard Weitz Innovation Center; Professor Xuechu Zhen, Dean of Suzhou University Pharmacy School; Mr. Ruilin Song, Executive Director of China Pharmaceutical Innovation and Research Development Association (PhIRDA); Professor Jin Li and Professor Guang Ning gave speeches to congratulate the establishment of CStone Suzhou TMRC. The speakers also expressed their high expectations for CStone in research collaboration, talent development, and pharmaceutical innovation to address the urgent needs of Chinese patients.

"The launch of CStone Suzhou TMRC signifies the emergence of another leading biopharmaceutical company at Suzhou Industrial Park as well as a major step forward for CStone to become a globally influential biotech brand in pharmaceutical innovation," said Mr. Lixin Ding, Vice Chairman of Suzhou Industrial Park Administrative Committee.

After the opening ceremony, the Immuno-Oncology Forum was held, focused on exploring the future of cancer therapy in China. Dr. Yang Jianxin, CStone's Chief Medical Officer, presided over the forum. Professor Jin Li delivered a compelling speech about the Challenges and Opportunities in Treatment of Cancer. Chief Physician, Dr. Junning Cao from Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, shared her opinions about Current Status and Advancements in Treatment of Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Dr. Zhihao Lu, Associate Chief Physician from Peking University Affiliated Cancer Hospital, presented Problems and Solutions in Using Immunotherapy for Treatment of Digestive Tract Cancers. Moreover, in the panel discussion, the attending experts discussed challenges and opportunities for innovative drug development under the new CFDA policy, and ways to advance China's clinical research to global standards through collaboration of industry, academia, and investors.

About CStone

CStone Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company devoted to the development of a new generation of innovative drugs. With its broad immuno-oncology pipeline, CStone is pursuing a development strategy focusing on combination therapy. In July 2016, CStone Pharmaceuticals announced the completion of its $150 million Series A financing, led by three prestigious VC/PE funds: Oriza Seed Venture Capital, Boyu Capital and WuXi Healthcare Ventures. All members of the management team are seasoned executives from top multinational pharmaceutical companies. CStone has successfully built up an industry leading team with clinical development and translational medicine as its core competence. This enables CStone to accelerate drug approval timeline, while at the same time, to apply global standard practices to ensure clinical trial quality. The unique advantages in clinical development, funding and pipeline also position CStone as the partner of choice for multinational pharmaceutical/biotech companies to develop drugs in China and in the Asia Pacific region.

SOURCE CStone Pharmaceuticals