Forever Cheer Holding, a biotech company founded by Zhuo Min, a mainland-China-born neuroscientist who teaches at the University of Toronto, has picked Hong Kong as the base for global expansion with an eye on the chronic pain management market. The plan is in sync with the city’s ambition of establishing itself as an international biotech hub.
The global market for such products is projected to grow to US$173.4 billion by 2033 from the current US$88.2 billion, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 7 per cent, according to the New York-based research company Market.us.
“We see the city as the gateway to the international market,” said Ted Chang Zongming, chairman and CEO of Forever Cheer, in an interview with the Post. The company’s goal is to establish a strong presence in China and “connect the city to the global stage as they bring their breakthrough therapies to patients worldwide”, Chang said.
The company, headquartered in Hong Kong since 2015, has offices and production bases in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Qingdao and Ningbo in mainland China.
Its Fujian-born founder Zhuo Min moved to the United States in the 1980s and is now a neuroscience professor at the University of Toronto. The biotech start-up specialises in discovering new therapeutic targets within neuroscience research and developing first-in-class drugs which are prototype drugs that use new, unique ways to treat a particular medical condition.
The company is developing drugs targeting the inhibition of Adenylate Cyclase for both human and animal use. These drugs are currently undergoing various stages of clinical trials and have shown positive results in treating chronic pain without significant side effects or addiction risks, according to Zhuo, who is also the company’s chief scientist.
The pain management market potential was highlighted by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer’s acquisition of Biohaven last year for US$11.6 billion. Pfizer said Biohaven’s migraine drugs could top $6 billion in annual sales at their peak.
In the first half of 2025, the company expects to complete phase two clinical trials of NB001, a drug used to alleviate pain for late stage cancer patients, in China. Before launching the drug for humans, the company will start producing drugs for the treatment of chronic pain in dogs in China next year.
Scientists say the management of chronic pain currently involves opioid analgesics, anticonvulsants, and antidepressants but long-term usage has negative side-effects like diversion and addiction.
Selective adenylyl cyclase type 1 inhibitors could serve as potential alternatives for chronic pain management, Val J Watts, a professor of molecular pharmacology at Purdue University, said in a 2018 article in the Nature Journal.
“The drugs can replace the existing cancer pain analgesics on the market and meet the current huge clinical demand for cancer pain treatment,” said Zhuo.
Preliminary data suggests these drugs are effective, presenting no significant side effects or risk of addiction, he said.
Forever Cheer holds over 10 global patents, covering various fields such as pain management, drug addiction, anxiety, and depression, with patent protection in major countries and regions worldwide. To support its research and development efforts, Forever Cheer has recently established its R&D headquarters in Hong Kong’s Science Park.
