Innovation and transformation is not easy! After spending nearly $400 million to introduce ADCs, the pharmaceutical company's non-net profit fell by 17.62%

【Pharmaceutical Network Enterprise News】In the pharmaceutical field, authorized introduction is a common business practice
.
Under the background of the trend of pharmaceutical innovation, many local pharmaceutical companies have accelerated the transformation of innovative drug research by introducing a number of foreign innovative drug research
results.
Tasly is one of the traditional Chinese medicine companies
that strives for innovation and transformation.
In recent years, the company has continued to increase R&D investment, 2022H1 R&D expenses increased by 81.
66% year-on-year, the company adheres to the research and development of innovative drugs and the secondary development of large varieties, through the "four-in-one" research and development model, there are currently more than 90 products under development, of which 45 are Class 1 new drugs
.
However, innovation and transformation are not easy
.
Tasly's 2022 third quarterly report released on the evening of October 25 showed that the company achieved operating income of 6.
101 billion yuan in the first three quarters of this year, a year-on-year increase of 5.
73%; the net loss was 334 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 122.
58%; Non-net profit was 769 million yuan, down 17.
62%
year-on-year.
Among them, in the third quarter, the operating income was 2.
090 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.
53%; net profit was 73.
2785 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 84.
7%; Non-net profit was 314 million yuan, down 0.
06%
year-on-year.
As for the reason for the 17.
62% decrease in non-net profit, the company said that it was mainly caused by the company's payment of 169 million yuan in the license fee of Sutro Biopharma, Inc.
(hereinafter referred to as Sutro) in the United States, and if this factor is excluded, the company's non-attributable net profit is basically the same as the same
period last year 。 According to public information, in December 2021, Tasly announced that its holding subsidiary, Tasly Biopharmaceutical Co.
, Ltd.
, will pay an initial payment of US$40 million and a potential development and commercialization milestone payment of up to US$345 million to Sutro Biopharma, as well as an agreed percentage of sales commission, to obtain exclusive development, registration and commercialization rights and interests in STRO-002 Greater China (Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macau Special Administrative Region, and
Taiwan).
。 STRO-002 is an antibody conjugate drug (ADC) targeting folate receptor α (FolRα) under Sutro Biopharma, which targets FolRα with tumor cell specificity and high expression in tumor tissues such as ovarian cancer, endometrial cancer, breast cancer and non-small cell lung cancer, which is a potential suitable target for
ADC drugs 。 The linker used in STRO-002 is the protease cleavable Val-Cit-PABA, whose small molecule load is a derivative of the marine extract hamitrine, a novel microtubule inhibitor and a weak substrate for P glycoprotein pumps, which has the potential to
resist drug resistance.
At present, STRO-002 is conducting a phase I clinical study for recurrent ovarian cancer and endometrial cancer in Europe and the United States, and the dose escalation study for recurrent ovarian cancer was completed in August 2020 and has been granted fast-track designation
by the FDA for the treatment of ovarian cancer.
In early January, Sutro Biopharma announced positive
interim results from the STRO-002 dose-extended Phase 1 clinical trial.
As for the reasons for the unsatisfactory results in the first three quarters, Tasly said that the fair value of financial assets held by the company such as I-MAB (I-Mab Biologics) and Keji Pharmaceutical decreased by 1.
231 billion yuan, which was 1.
523 billion yuan lower than the profit and loss of fair value change in the same period last year
.
In this regard, a number of securities firm research reports pointed out that the decline in net profit attributable to the parent caused by changes in the fair value of financial assets is a short-term disturbance
.
In the first three quarters, the fair value of financial assets held by I-Mab and CARsgen Pharmaceuticals decreased during the reporting period, which was only a short-term impact
on the company's net profit attributable to the parent.
From the perspective of the overall cycle of the investment project, the I-MAB project has recovered all the investment costs and obtained investment income
by the end of last year.
Disclaimer: Under no circumstances does the information or opinions expressed in this article constitute investment advice
to anyone.