Everest Medicines (HKEX 1952.HK, "Everest", or the "Company"), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, clinical development, manufacturing and commercialization of innovative therapeutics,  announced that the first prescription for VELSIPITY^® has been written at Foshan Fosun Chancheng Hospital in Guangdong, under the "Hong Kong and Macau Medicine and Equipment Connect" policy, which marks the official beginning of this new therapy benefiting patients in mainland China.

VELSIPITY^® is an innovative advanced therapy that was approved by the Pharmaceutical Administration Bureau of Macau in April 2024. It is an oral treatment taken once daily for the treatment of patients aged 16 and above with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis (UC). UC is a chronic, relapsing, non-specific inflammatory disease, and as the disease progresses, the risk of disability and colorectal cancer incidence continues to rise. By 2030, the number of patients with UC in China is expected to more than double compared to 2019, reaching approximately 1 million, with a significant unmet need for innovative therapies. 

Professor Wu Ji, Director of the Gastroenterology Department at Foshan Fosun Chancheng Hospital said, "We are very happy to see that VELSIPITY^® has been prescribed in our hospital through the 'Hong Kong and Macau Medicine and Equipment Connect' policy. With a large population of UC patients in the Guangdong province and high clinical demand, this is a significant milestone. As the only drug that has been proven to be effective in isolated proctitis in global Phase III clinical trials, VELSIPITY^® is an oral treatment taken once daily with a favorable safety profile, providing an innovative treatment option for patients who have long been troubled by UC. We look forward to Everest Medicines further enhancing the accessibility of VELSIPITY^® to benefit more Chinese patients in the future."

As a core product of Everest Medicines, VELSIPITY^® can provide patients with a chance for corticosteroid-free remission, mucosal healing, and rapid symptom relief. In the results of the Asian multi-center Phase 3 clinical trial of VELSIPITY^® for the treatment of moderately to severely active UC announced in July this year, VELSIPITY^® achieved positive topline data results in both the induction and maintenance treatment periods, providing further solid scientific basis and support for the wide application of the drug in clinical practice.

In this October, through the "Hong Kong and Macau Medicine and Equipment Connect" policy, VELSIPITY^® has officially been approved for patients with moderately to severely active UC by the Guangdong Provincial Medical Products Administration and can be used in the medical institutions designated by the Connect Policy in the Greater Bay Area, including First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Foshan Fosun Chancheng Hospital, Shenzhen Hospital of Southern Medical University and Guangzhou United Family Healthcare. Also, with the recent inclusion in the Catalog of Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices Imported from Hong Kong and Macau for the Nine Municipalities in Guangdong Province within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area, VELSIPITY^® is expected to accelerate its availability in all 45 designated medical institutions under the Connect Policy.