Another biomedical company completed the listing of "A + H" in two places. On March 31, Rongchang Biologics, a domestic bio-innovative pharmaceutical company, was officially listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Previously, on November 9, 2020, Rongchang Bio was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, setting a record for the highest global biotech IPO fundraising that year with US$590 million.
Two self-developed new drugs "advance" into the national medical insurance directory
It is understood that Rongchang Biology was established in 2008 and has been focusing on therapeutic antibody drugs such as antibody drug conjugates (ADCs), antibody fusion proteins, monoclonal antibodies and double antibodies.
In terms of research product pipelines, at present, Rongchang Bio has two products in the commercialization stage, and both enter the national medical insurance directory through medical insurance negotiations at the end of 2021. Tatacipu is the company's first product to enter the commercialization stage, which was conditionally approved for marketing by the State Food and Drug Administration in March 2021 for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus. Another drug, vidicetizumab, is the first domestic antibody drug conjugate (ADC) drug approved for marketing, which was approved by the State Food and Drug Administration for conditional marketing in June 2021 for the treatment of patients with LOCALly advanced or metastatic gastric cancer who have received at least 2 types of systemic chemotherapy.
Vidicetizumab is also currently the holder of the record of domestic innovative drugs "going to sea". This new ADC drug, which is optimistic about Seattle Gene, has become the only domestic ADC innovative drug that has been recognized by the US FDA and the National Food and Drug Administration as a dual breakthrough therapy due to its significant clinical efficacy over the existing treatment methods.
On January 1, 2022, the new version of the medical insurance catalogue (2021 version) was implemented. Independently developed by Rongchang Biopharmaceutical (Yantai) Co., Ltd., Tetasep (Taiai) and Vidicetizumab (Edich) ushered in the first "medical insurance prescription". It is reported that the two "medical insurance prescriptions" were issued by Tang Yanchun, director of the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology of Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, and Xu Huiting, director of the Department of Abdominal Oncology of Hubei Provincial Cancer Hospital, on January 1 and January 4, respectively.
In addition, according to the prospectus, Rongchang Bio has developed more than 20 candidate biological drug products, and 7 products that have entered the clinical trial stage are carrying out clinical trials for the treatment of more than 20 indications.
The loss in three years is nearly 1.4 billion yuan, and the first turnaround in 2021
Before 2021, Rongchang Bio has not yet entered the commercialization stage, there is no stable source of income, from 2018 to 2020, Rongchang Bio's net profit loss attributable to the mother reached 268 million yuan, 429 million yuan and 697 million yuan, with a total loss of nearly 1.4 billion yuan.
Rongchang Bio turned around for the first time in 2021. According to the annual results announcement disclosed by it on the evening of March 29, the company achieved revenue of 1.424 billion yuan and annual profit of 276 million yuan. The company said the change in results was due to the cumulative revenue of $131 million from the commercialization of the two products and the receipt of a $200 million down payment from Seattle Gene for the vidicetizumab development agreement.
It is worth noting that Rongchang Bio is carrying out a number of clinical trials in China and the United States for the popularization of vidicetizumab, and another ophthalmic drug in the company's research and development pipeline, RC28, is also in the second phase of clinical stage. Rongchang Bio said in its prospectus on the Science and Technology Innovation Board that the company has developed more than 20 candidate biological drug products, of which more than 10 candidate biological drug products are in the stage of commercialization, clinical research or IND preparation.
In addition, Rongchang Bio also has a total of 85 authorized patents in more than 20 countries or regions, and more than 140 patents are pending, building a patent moat for global competition for products such as tetacil and vidicetizumab. (Mengmeng Zhao)
