Eyes on Asia: Ascentage’s IPO, Arrivent & Lepu, Sanofi approval, and moreEyes on Asia: Ascentage’s IPO, Arrivent & Lepu, Sanofi approval, and more

Ascentage rings the Nasdaq bell

Ascentage Pharma Group International, an oncology-focused biotech based in Suzhou, China, has celebrated its official listing on the Nasdaq Global Market. Additionally, the company has become the first 18A company to attain a dual listing on the US stock market.

Ascentage offered 7,325,000 American depositary shares (ADS), with an offering price of $17.25 per ADS. The amount from the offering (before removing underwriting discounts and commissions, as well as other payable expenses) totals to around $126.4 million. The offering is expected to close on January 28, 2025, subject to customary closing conditions.

After a ten-year journey of “persistent innovation,” the company was listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange in October 2019.

“We are very pleased to see Ascentage Pharma’s successful listing on Nasdaq. We thank our investors for their support and recognition. Looking back at the past year, Ascentage Pharma has achieved numerous milestones and has become one of the most outstanding companies among 18A companies listed in Hong Kong,” said Yang Dajun,  CEO of Ascentage Pharma.

“From the Hong Kong market to Nasdaq, Ascentage Pharma has embarked on a new journey. Looking ahead, we will continue to advance our patient-centered global innovation strategy and accelerate the global clinical development of our pipeline products, benefiting patients worldwide.”

Ascentage has 11 ongoing and/or completed US/global registrational trials.

ArriVent and Lepu

ArriVent Biopharma, a clinical-stage biotechnology firm based in Pennsylvania, US has signed a license agreement with China-headquartered Lepu Biopharma for antibody drug conjugate (ADC) candidate MRG007. Lepu will receive an upfront payment of $47 million in cash and is also eligible to bag up to $1.16 billion in development, regulatory, and sales milestones.

MRG007 aims to treat various gastrointestinal (GI) cancers. ArriVent gains the exclusive rights to advance and commercialize the candidate globally excluding Greater China (mainland China, Macau, Hong Kong, and Taiwan).  

"We believe MRG007 is a potential best-in-class ADC for the treatment of GI malignancies based on preclinical and IND enabling studies,” said Bing Yao, CEO of ArriVent.

“Expanding our pipeline with MRG007 furthers our mission to develop novel medicines for cancers with high unmet needs worldwide and accelerates our ADC portfolio by adding a program which plans to enter the clinic in the near-term. We look forward to collaborating with Lepu Biopharma in advancing this program globally.”

The first Investigational New Drug (IND) submission is expected in the first half of this year.

InnoCare and KeyMed

Chinese biotechs InnoCare Pharma and KeyMed have jointly signed an agreement with Delaware-based investment firm Prolium Bioscience for the development and commercialization of bispecific antibody candidates ICP-B02 and CD20XCD3.

ICP-BO2 attaches to CD20 tumor cells and CD3 T-cells redirect and activate T-cells to remove tumor cells through T-cell Directed Cellular Cytotoxicity (TDCC), which has the possibility to be applied in oncology and non-oncology spaces.

InnoCare and KeyMed are set to receive payments up to $520 million. This includes upfront and future payments, as well as payments dependent on the achievement of specific clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones. Additionally, both parties will hold a minority equity stake in Prolium. 

Prolium will gain the exclusive right to develop, produce and commercialize ICP-B02 in the non-oncology field globally and in the oncology field in ex-Asia regions.

Sanofi

The National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) has granted Sanofi’s monoclonal antibody (mAb) Sarclisa (isatuximab) approval in China. Sarclisa is the first anti-CD38 treatment in combination with lenalidomide, bortezomib, and dexamethasone (VRd) approved in China for individuals with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (NDMM) who are not eligible for autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT).

This approval follows the NMPA’s decision earlier this month to authorize Sarclisa in combination with pomalidomide and dexamethasone (Pd) for the treatment of adults with relapsed or refractory MM who have received at least one line of therapy.

“When Sanofi entered China more than four decades ago, we did so with the intention of bringing potentially transformative therapies to Chinese patients,” said Olivier Nataf, global head of Oncology at Sanofi.

“This approval, occurring just weeks after Sarclisa’s first in the country, represents tremendous progress towards advancing this mission. Now, patients with multiple myeloma and their providers have access to two new Sarclisa-based regimens that have the potential to improve outcomes across lines of therapy.” Sarclisa is approved in over 50 countries across various indications. This includes the US, EU, Japan, and China. In Japan, a regulatory submission for Sarclisa in NDMM patients not able to have a hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is under review.