The board of directors of CSPC Pharmaceutical Group Limited announced that NBL-012, a fully human antibody drug independently discovered and developed by NovaRock Biotherapeutics Limited, a subsidiary of the Company, has obtained approval of its Investigational New Drug Application (IND) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). NBL-012 is for treating chronic inflammatory diseases such as psoriasis, hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and other autoimmune diseases. The Phase I clinical trials will evaluate the safety and tolerability andpharmacokinetic profile of NBL-012. IL-23p19 is an emerging clinically validated target for various autoimmune diseases including psoriasis, hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The prevalenceof these autoimmune diseases is between 0.1% and 0.3% worldwide and as life-long and tend-to- relapse diseases, they significantly negatively impact patients' quality of life. Antibodies targeting IL-23p19 have demonstrated superior clinical efficacy, safety and durability than TNF- inhibitors, IL-17A antibodies and IL-23p40 antibodies. NBL-012 is a new specific and potent IL-23p19 antibody. It acts upstream of the IL-23/IL-17 inflammatory axis, leading to sustained inhibition of Th17 cell differentiation and IL-17 production. As a fully human IgG4 antibody, NBL-012 should carry fewer risks of immunogenicity liability and undesirable Fc-mediated tissue damage. The development of NBL-012 will bring new and effective treatment options to patients with autoimmune diseases around the world.