$2.6 billion!
Overseas authorized transactions of Chinese local anticancer drugs hit a record high
More and more Chinese local innovative pharmaceutical companies are conducting overseas authorized development transactions.
On the evening of August 9th, Rongchang Bio (09995.HK) announced that it has reached an exclusive global license agreement with the international biopharmaceutical company Seagen Inc. (Nasdaq: SGEN) to develop and commercialize its new ADC drug Vita Dixituzumab.
It is reported that the total potential revenue of Rongchang Biotechnology from this transaction will be as high as 2.6 billion US dollars, including a down payment of 200 million US dollars and a milestone payment of up to 2.4 billion US dollars. Net sales range from a high single digit to a gradient sales commission of more than ten percent.
Seattle Genes has obtained the global development and commercialization rights of Vidicuzumab outside the Rongchang Bioregion, and Rongchang Bio will retain the right to carry out clinical development and commercialization in the Asian region (except Japan and Singapore).
This transaction amount broke the highest record of overseas authorized transactions of a single product by a Chinese pharmaceutical company. Previously, the record holder was BeiGene. On January 12 this year, it cooperated with Novartis on its independent research and development of anti-PD-1 The antibody drug tislelizumab has reached cooperation and licensing agreements in the development, production and commercialization of the antibody drug tislelizumab in multiple countries.
For China's local pharmaceutical companies, the overseas authorization of independently developed innovative drugs can lock in drug return income in advance on the one hand, and on the other hand, it can also promote drugs to the overseas market.
The visciduzumab authorized overseas by Rongchang Biologics is a new antibody conjugate (ADC) drug targeting HER2.
On June 8, vedicitumumab was approved to be marketed in China, becoming the first domestically-made ADC new drug approved for the treatment of locally advanced metastatic gastric cancer.
As a "biological missile", ADC drugs are conjugated by monoclonal antibodies, linkers and small molecule cytotoxins, which can accurately attack cancer cells and are the key direction of global anti-tumor drug technology development.
Due to its complex structure, its manufacturing process, quality control, and pre-clinical research are more complex than ordinary antibody drugs, and its development difficulty is much higher than that of ordinary antibody drugs.
Numerous pharmaceutical companies are competing for deployment. Public information shows that there are a total of 12 ADC drugs on the market around the world, and more than 200 ADC projects are under development. Specifically, in China, the total number of ADC new drugs declared has reached 30.
In a recent research report released by Ping An Securities, it is believed that the three third-generation ADC drugs currently on the market, Polivy, Enhertu and Padcev, will all achieve rapid growth in 2020, achieving revenues of 1.69, 3.91 and 222 million U.S. dollars, respectively, and are expected to become global majors. The pound product embodies the market potential of ADC drugs. “According to Nature’s predictions, the total sales of 10 ADC drugs on the market before 2020 will exceed 16.4 billion U.S. dollars by 2026. There is still a lot of room for development in the next few years. At present, most ADC drugs are still in the clinical stage, accompanied by drug research and development. Advance, the ADC industry is about to usher in a harvest period in the next few years, entering the era of full commercialization, the market capacity will continue to expand, and the track is expected to maintain a relatively high level of prosperity." (Author: Lin Zhiyin)