China’s Simcere Pharmaceutical Group has entered into a research collaboration agreement with Stanford Medicine to jointly advance an exploratory study in respiratory disease, with the goal of developing innovative therapies for patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).
Under the agreement, signed on May 29, 2026, Simcere will fund research into a first-in-class novel molecule. If the study is successful, the company will secure an exclusive licence and obtain global rights to develop and commercialise the resulting product.
The project will bring together Simcere and leading chemical biology laboratories at Stanford Medicine, led by Professors Chaitan Khosla and Cui Bianxiao, affiliated with the Stanford Innovative Medicines Accelerator.
Khosla serves as a professor in Stanford University’s Departments of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, is an Institute Scholar at Sarafan ChEM-H, and Director of the Innovative Medicines Accelerator. He is also a member of the US National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, with expertise in LYTAC-related technologies.
Bianxiao is a professor in Stanford University’s Department of Chemistry and a Fellow of the Wu Tsai Neuroscience Institute. She is an expert in fibrosis-related targets and she has received awards, including the Biophysical Society’s Barany Award and the NIH New Innovator Award.
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a chronic, progressive interstitial pneumonia of unknown etiology, characterized by fibrosis that primarily affects the pulmonary interstitium, leading to stiffening and loss of elasticity of lung tissue, and ultimately resulting in respiratory failure.
Despite available treatments, pulmonary fibrosis cannot currently be fully reversed. Patients diagnosed with IPF have a median survival of around three years, while five-year survival rates remain between 20 and 40 per cent.
Zhou Gaobo, chief investment officer at Simcere Pharmaceutical, said the partnership marks the second first-in-class original project jointly developed with Stanford Medicine.
“This ongoing collaboration reflects Simcere’s active steps toward Innovation 2.0 and fulfills its corporate mission (‘For patients, for life’). We look forward to jointly developing more innovative products to benefit patients,” Zhou said.
Professor Khosla said highly targeted treatments for IPF remain one of the most urgent unmet needs in respiratory medicine.
“We are pleased to work with Simcere to advance the translation of chemical biology breakthroughs together,” he added.
