Deals and Financings

JD Health (HK: 6628) of Guangzhou, the online health-care arm of China e-commerce giant JD.com, completed a $3.5 billion Hong Kong IPO and rose 56% in its first trading session (see story). JD Health offers 30-minute delivery of pharmaceuticals, online access to doctors and health services such as genetic testing. It was spun out of JD.com last year. The company now has a $45 billion market capitalization. JD Health competes with TenCent's WeDoctor and Alibaba's AliHealth in the online health services space.  

3D Medicines of Shanghai acquired greater China rights to two Sellas cancer immunotherapies in an agreement worth up to $202 million (see story). 3DMed will develop and commercialize Sellas' late-stage candidate, galinpepimut-S (GPS), and its next-gen heptavalent immunotherapy, GPS+, currently in preclinical stage. The $202 million includes a $7.5 upfront payment and a $8 million near-term milestone. 3DMed will also pay royalties on sales. Sellas is headquartered in New York City; it acquired rights to GPS from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Shanghai's Nuance Pharma closed a $181 million Series D financing to develop drugs for iron deficiency, pain management and respiratory conditions (see story). The company will use the proceeds to develop its existing pipeline and acquire new assets. Founded in 2014, Nuance has been supported by VCs that include CBC Group (formerly C-Bridge Capital) and Matrix Partners China. At the time of the B round, CBC said its $35 million investment was a "unique funding model" that allowed the venture firm to build a China pharma.

Pegbio, a Suzhou biopharma, completed a $122 million financing to support its novel long-acting treatments prior to a planned IPO on Shanghai's STAR market (see story). Founded in  2008. the company has developed candidates aimed at diabetes, fatty liver, constipation, cardiovascular issues, gout and other chronic diseases. PegBio in-licenses some products, including a diabetes drug from Pfizer, and develops others itself. The round was co-led by Jack Ma’s YF Capital, Yingke PE and TF Capital.

SciNeuro Pharma, a new Shanghai-Philadelphia company, launched with $100 million in initial funding to develop novel CNS treatments (see story). The A round was co-led by Lilly Asia Ventures and Arch Venture Partners, and Min Li, PhD, a Venture Partner at Lilly Asia Ventures, serves as Founder and CEO of the new company. SciNeuro says it will develop new CNS treatments through internal R&D and in-licensings with an initial focus on China's market. Also participating in the A round were Boyu Capital, General Atlantic, Sequoia Capital China, TF Capital and Zoo Capital.  

Jiangsu Wuzhong Pharma out-licensed global ex-China rights for an anti-angiogenesis cancer drug to Denovo Biopharma of Hangzhou and San Diego (see story). In a China Phase III trial, DB108 (endostatin) generally showed similar efficacy to already available drugs in NSCLC patients. It did, however, show significant improvement in median progression-free survival. Denovo, a company that uses biomarkers to define specific markets for failed drug candidates, will identify a targeted population for the drug using its whole-genome scanning platform technology. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.  

Overland Pharmaceuticals, a Shanghai, Beijing, Boston biopharma, launched today with backing from deep-pocketed investor Hillhouse, but few details about its plans (see story). The company said it would form collaborations, most likely with Hillhouse partners, to bring innovative medicines to patients in Asia and the world. Overland was co-founded by Hillhouse and Hua Mu, MD, PhD, who has research expertise in autoimmune and infectious diseases. Ed Zhang, MBA, who most recently was Venture Partner for Hillhouse in Boston, serves as COO and Chief Business Officer.

COVID-19 Pandemic

Beijing's Sinovac Bio (NSDQ: SVA) reported Sino Biopharma (HK:1177) of Hong Kong will invest $515 million in a Sinovac subsidiary to double production of its inactivated COVID-19 vaccine, CoronaVac (see story). The investment will boost production of the COVID-19 vaccine from 300 million doses annually to 600 doses. Sinovac is expected to report early results from its global Phase III test of the vaccine candidate sometime this month. After the investment, SinoBiopharm will own 15% of Sinovac Life Sciences at a valuation of  $3.5 billion.

Trials and Approvals

JW Therapeutics (HK: 2126) of Shanghai presented positive data from its leading CAR-T therapy for patients with B-cell lymphoma (see story). In a pivotal trial, relmacabtagene autoleucel (relma-cel) produced efficacy similar to already-approved CAR-T treatments, but with a better side effect profile. JW has filed for approval of the anti-CD19 CAR-T candidate in China and expects it will be the first CAR-T approved as a Class 1 drug. JW is a joint venture formed by Juno Therapeutics of Seattle and Shanghai's WuXi Biologics.  

Sinovac Biotech (NSDQ: SVA), a Beijing vaccine company, reported China regulators approved its 23-Valent Pneumococcal Polysaccharide (PPV) Vaccine to prevent streptococcus pneumonia in adults and children ages 2 years old and above (see story). Sinovac began work on the vaccine in 2009 and initiated clinical trials in 2014. A Phase III study showed it was the equal of other vaccines in all 23 pneumonia serotypes. The product is Sinovac's first vaccine for a bacterial target.  

Antengene (HK: 6996), a Shanghai biopharma, is approved to start a China Phase III trial of ATG-010 (selinexor), an oral selective inhibitor of nuclear export (SINE) (see story). ATG010 will be administered in combination with bortezomib and dexamethasone to treat patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. Two years ago, Antengene in-licensed the SINE candidate from Karyopharm of Boston in a four-drug deal worth up to $162 million. The drug is approved for use in the US to treat multiple myeloma and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.  

Suzhou Innovent Bio (HK: 01801) has dosed the first patient in a Phase II trial of its CTLA-4 mAb in combination with Tyvyt® (sintilimab injection) as a second-line treatment for advanced cervical cancer (see story). The randomized, double-blind trial will compare the efficacy and safety of the combination against Tyvyt, an anti-PD-1 drug, by itself. Innovent points out that the long-term survival rate of Stage IVb cervical cancer is very low, and patients who fail platinum-based chemotherapy have few options. No CTLA-4 drug has been approved for China use.

EOC Pharma, a Shanghai oncology company, announced approval to start a China Phase II trial of a novel immunotherapy for patients with metastatic breast cancer (see story). EOC in-licensed China rights to EOC202 (eftilagimod alpha) from Immutep (ASX: IMM; NSDQ: IMMP) of Australia. Efti, a soluble LAG-3 fusion protein (LAG-3Ig), is a novel antigen presenting cell (APC) activator being tested in cancer and infectious disease. It will be administered in combination with paclitaxel. EOC was spun out of China in-licensing company Eddingpharm in 2015.

Disclosure: none.