Liantuo Bio will be listed in the U.S., with a valuation of US$1.8 billion. Can you recreate the legend of Genting Xinyao's "License-in"?

Recently, the biopharmaceutical company Liantuo Biotech disclosed its prospectus, and the company will be listed on the Nasdaq in the United States on October 28
.
The company issued 20,032,500 American Depositary Shares (ADS) at a price of US$15 to US$17 per share.

PART 0 1.
Focus on "License-in"

Liantuo Bio is a globalized, technology-driven biopharmaceutical company, focusing on License-in in China and other Asian markets, and is committed to solving unmet patient needs and promoting medical progress
.
With Pfizer’s commercial infrastructure in China and the priority development rights of more than 20 drug candidates provided by BridgeBio, Liantuo has built up 9 pipelines and 5 fields (cardiovascular, oncology, Ophthalmology, Inflammatory Diseases and Respiratory System Indications) product lines, and claim that each product has unique value-the potential to drive the development of treatment

Today, China has become the world's second largest pharmaceutical market.
It is estimated that China's pharmaceutical market revenue will reach 89 billion U.
S.
dollars in 2020, and it is expected to reach 187 billion U.
S.
dollars in 2025
.
In recent years, with the accelerated reform of the country’s regulatory approval system, the introduction of core concepts centered on patient needs, and the introduction of a series of policies that are conducive to innovation and market access, the Chinese pharmaceutical market has become more important in the global market.

Considering such a large market growth rate and stock, Western pharmaceutical companies interested in opening up the global market are actively exploring ways to better reduce access to the Chinese market, and China’s complex supervision and installation Commercial channels are an inevitable threshold
.

We have analyzed the advantages of the License-in model before.
It can jump out of the limitations of its own R&D capabilities, enrich pipelines and R&D directions as much as possible, and complement existing products to meet market needs.
On the other hand, it can promote foreign countries The rapid implementation of advanced technology in China improves its own secondary research and development capabilities, maintains almost the same product cycle as foreign products, and saves time for approval
.

Let us look back at the development of Liantuo Biotech
.
Liantuo Biotech was established on July 17, 2019.

Progress of Liantuo's R&D pipeline

It is worth noting that infigratinib has been approved by the US FDA for the treatment of previously treated, unresectable locally advanced or metastatic choline with FGFR2 fusion or other rearrangement of neurovascular cancer; NBTXR3 has been obtained in the European Union Market approval (CE mark) for the treatment of locally advanced soft tissue sarcoma
.
However, the above-mentioned indications for the advancement of these two drugs are outside the scope of Liantuo's license

Liantuo intends to introduce field development and commercialization of mavacamten in China and other Asian markets, TP-03, NBTXR3——

mavacamten is an oral therapy for the treatment of obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy ("oHCM").
It reached the primary and secondary endpoints in a key Phase 3 trial led by MyoKardia, showing statistically significant improvement in symptoms and Clinical significance.
With the successful experiment of mavacamten, MyoKardia was acquired by BMS for nearly 13 billion US dollars
.
Liantuo obtained NMPA's approval for the launch of its Phase 3 and PK trials in August 2021, and is expected to officially launch related trials in the first quarter of 2022

TP-03 is an eye solution for the treatment of Demodex blepharitis (DB).
There are currently 43 million patients in China urgently awaiting approval of the treatment of DB.
Tarsus has completed the first of two key trials of TP-03 for the treatment of DB.
One (Saturn-1), and has reached the primary and secondary endpoints, and the second key experiment (Saturn-2) is currently underway
.
Liantuo expects to start Phase 3 clinical trials of TP-03 in China and lead PK trials in the second half of 2022 to evaluate the safety, effectiveness, and pharmacokinetics of TP-03 in Chinese patients, as well as the results shown in the United States.

NBTXR3 is a radiation sensitizer based on nanoparticles that can enhance the local effect of radiotherapy
.
It can be used as a single treatment and in combination with chemotherapy or immunotherapy, and has potential broad applicability to multiple tumor types.

PART 0 2.
Will Liantuo’s “License-in” be recognized?

Liantuo has been established for less than three years, and there is no corresponding product revenue yet.
Considering that the prepayment is usually paid when the License-in agreement is signed, and milestone payments are required when certain development, regulatory and commercial milestones are achieved
.
The research and development expenses of Liantuo Bio will reach 120 million U.
S.
dollars in 2020, and prepayment and milestone payment account for 72.
7 million U.
S.
dollars
.

The future income of Liantuo Bio will largely depend on the successful development and commercialization of late-stage clinical products such as the candidate products mavacamten, TP-03, NBTXR3, etc.
That is to say, once they have safety and effectiveness problems, they will It is a huge blow to Liantuo.
Of course, this is not the risk brought by the license-in model.
This is a challenge that every pharmaceutical company needs to face
.

At the same time, competition is fierce.
Many global companies are also involved in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy ("HCM"), inflammatory bowel disease ("IBD"), respiratory syncytial virus ("RSV"), cholangiocarcinoma ("CCA") Development and marketing of indications such as, non-small cell lung cancer ("NSCLC") and gastric cancer.
For example, Incyte and its partner Innovent Biologics jointly developed pemigatinib-approved in the United States for the treatment of second-line CCA , An FGFR inhibitor approved in China for first-line and second-line CCA treatment
.

License-in is not just spending money and resources.
Although eggs are not in a basket, it is undeniable that "product selection" is important.
Even if it is backed by BridgeBio, there are more than 20 drug candidates with priority development rights.
Still need to carefully evaluate the commercial potential of the product and the target market to choose
.
The ability to successfully develop candidate products is the core influencing factor of a company's long-term competitiveness for a company that focuses on the license-in model, and it is also a good cornerstone for its future revenue growth and the company's expanded operations
.

For a pharmaceutical company, what can it do in three years? Genting Xinyao listed 8 license-in pipelines on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and the market value once exceeded 30 billion Hong Kong dollars shortly after listing
.
Genting Xinyao is a purely biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the License-in model.
Its core products are introduced by the License-in model and founded for professional investors
.
The pursuit of capital soil for high-efficiency realization and the license-in model contribute to each other
.

Looking back at the development of Liantuo Bio, the same capital founding, the same main license-in, Genting Xinyao has succeeded, time has passed, whether the emerging growth company Liantuo Bio's can replicate the success of Genting Xinyao , Whether it can win the market’s recognition of License-in, tomorrow will happen to be the 28th, interested readers may wish to continue to wait and see
.