On December 5-6, 2020, NORTHLAND organized a meeting for investigators involved in the Phase III clinical trial of recombinant human hepatocyte growth factor naked plasmid injection (NL003). The principal investigator (PI) of this project—Professor Changwei Liu from Peking Union Medical College Hospital—and researchers from some of the centers that have already initiated the study attended the meeting.

　　The meeting was chaired by Mr. Han Chengquan, Vice President in charge of clinical operations at the company, who also provided an overview of the investigational drug’s background and R&D progress. Representatives from the company and the CRO project manager respectively presented updates on the overall progress of the Phase III clinical trial, shared efficacy data, and discussed challenges encountered during the trial. Participants took turns sharing their respective center’s trial experiences and engaged in thorough discussions on patient recruitment. Professor Liu Changwei summarized the trial’s progress and enrollment status.

　　In his concluding remarks, Mr. Xu Songshan, Chairman and President of the company, expressed gratitude to the attending experts for their hard work and dedication to this trial. He noted that, due to the COVID-19 pandemic this year, the trial’s progress had been somewhat delayed. The holding of this researcher exchange meeting is of great significance. He hopes that all centers and researchers can learn from each other’s valuable experiences, accelerate the advancement of the trial, and mitigate the impact of the pandemic. At the same time, he stated that the company will mobilize resources from all quarters to ensure the smooth organization of the trial and is confident that at least one trial protocol will be completed by the end of 2021. The participating researchers unanimously pledged to conduct clinical research in a scientific and standardized manner and look forward to seeing the research findings applied to clinical practice as soon as possible, thereby enriching disease treatment options and alleviating patients’ suffering.