From my memory, it has always been that up to half of BoM2 would be conducted in China with SH paying the costs there. That is where the half of the costs of the trial comes from. It doesn’t mean half of the costs around the world, it means all of the costs in China (and territories, I think) up to half of the total.

From Slide 13, March 2022 Presentation , bottom of page.

1 Total clinical cost of $30-$40 million with up to 50% of the trial to be conducted in China with costs to be paid by Shenzhen Hepalink Pharmaceutical “Hepalink”

I don’t think SH would jump in to pay half of the trial everywhere to move it ahead. The best you could hope for probably is that they would proceed with the China portion which might lead to approval there. It would not lead to FDA approval. The data would help with FDA approval but only along with the rest of the trial, especially the US portion.

The big question that DM avoided addressing is how the trial cost doubled since March from $40 million to $80 million. That needs to be explained.