Pharmaceutical groups in
China are on track to raise about $10 billion this year from venture capital
investors, initial public offerings (IPOs) and licensing agreements with
foreign drugmakers, reported the Financial Times. Mark Alles, chief executive at
Celgene, which recently finalised a global strategic oncology collaboration
with Chinese biotechnology company BeiGene, said "true innovation is
happening here in China, and multinational companies have to throw away the
bias about where to go and how to think about where innovation is
happening."
Under the deal, BeiGene
licenced its investigational PD-1 inhibitor BGB-A317 to Celgene for most global
markets, except Asia, but including Japan, for $263 million upfront, as well as
up to $980 million in milestones and royalties tied to future sales of
BGB-A317. Celgene also took a $150-million equity stake in BeiGene, which is
conducting trials for two cancer drugs, and another for an anaemia therapy in
the US and Australia.
While most US drug trials
being run by Chinese drugmakers are early-stage, some companies, such as
Zensun, are further along. The Shanghai-based pharmaceutical firm, which raised
$76 million in a funding round this month, has completed Phase II trials of its
heart-failure drug Neucardin in China, Australia and the US, and has obtained
FDA approval to advance the treatment into late-stage testing.
In August, WuXi Biologics
and its Chinese partner Harbin Gloria Pharmaceuticals sold an exclusive license
to the anti-PD-1 antibody GLS-010 to US-based biotechnology company Arcus
Biosciences for up to $816 million. WuXi Biologics also raised $586 million in
an IPO in Hong Kong in June, while Zai Lab, which specialises in cancer drugs,
raised $172 million in a Nasdaq IPO last month.
"More and more venture
capitalists are willing to invest in the [Chinese] biotechnology
industry," commented Jinzi Wu, CEO of liver-disease drug developer
Ascletis, which raised $100 million in financing early this year. The executive
added "we have so many local funds wanting to invest in innovative
companies."
Chengbin Wu, founder of
EpimAB Biotherapeutics, an oncology-focused start-up that raised $25 million in
a funding round this year, suggested that changes brought about by reforms of
China's drug approval process since 2015 have helped bolster investment.
"Speeding up the process to shorten the timeframe to be more or less close
to the US is very important for innovation, because timing is everything,"
he said.
However, some investors
have expressed concerns about inflated valuations. Liang Lin of Eli Lilly's
Asian venture capital arm, which has invested almost $500 million into mostly
Chinese start-ups since 2008, noted that "most of the innovative drugs
being developed in China are in the 'me-too' category," products that are
similar to existing medicines, but aimed at the domestic market. "The
valuations for innovative pharmaceutical companies in China are much higher
than before, which is a concern," Lin added.
Financial Times, By: Anna
Bratulic
0 comentários:
Postar um comentário