Chinese cancer drugs developer Innovent will be in search of coronavirus cure

Innovent Biologics, the first company whose immunology-based PD-1 anti-cancer drug is covered by China’s national health insurance scheme, has joined the race to find a cure for the coronavirus epidemic sweeping the globe, according to its chairman.

The company, based in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, is working to identify antibodies that could potentially “neutralise” the deadly virus, by studying antibodies drawn from people who have recovered from the virus that causes the Covid-19 respiratory disease.

“It will probably take more than one year to find a promising drug candidate and to prepare for the first human clinical trial,” said Michael Yu Dechao in an interview, adding he is not concerned that a vaccine could be developed by then.

“A Covid-19 vaccine, like that for flu, will not work for everyone all the time, because the virus – currently in its sixth generation of existence – can mutate,” he said.

“We still need a long-term cure, which will take a number of years, and we must go through all the steps.”

Nearly a million people worldwide have taken ill from Covid-19 and over 46,600 have died so far.

Drug developers globally have sprung into action since January to develop vaccines and new treatments, while others are conducting clinical trials to test existing antiviral drugs’ efficacy on Covid-19.

Tianjin-based CanSino Biologics, whose vaccine against the Ebola virus was approved by Beijing for national stockpile, in mid-March won approval to start clinical trial for its Covid-19 vaccine candidate in cooperation with the Academy of Military Medical Sciences.

It is competing with Massachusetts, US-based Moderna, which started the first human trial on its vaccine candidate around the same time.

Shanghai-based cancer drugs developer I-Mab Biopharma has filed applications in the US and South Korea to conduct clinical trials for its antibody drug candidate to treat patients with severe Covid-19.

The antibody’s efficacy to “neutralise” a substance secreted by immune cells, which plays a key role in causing them inflammation and pneumonia, will be tested.Innovent on Monday posted a net loss of 1.72 billion yuan (US$242.2 million) for 2019. It generated 1 billion yuan of sales from sintilimab, an injection for classical Hodgkin’s lymphoma patients who do not respond to or have relapsed after other treatments. It is the only “PD-1” antibody drug that is included in China’s national health insurance reimbursement list since it was added last November, making it much more accessible. In 2018, it reported a net loss of 5.7 billion yuan and revenues of 9.5 million yuan.

Three other PD-1 drugs – which restore immune cells’ ability to kill cancer cells – developed by domestic firms, and four others by foreign firms, have been approved for sale in China. The inclusion of sintilimab – launched two years ago in cooperation with US firm Eli Lilly – was possible after Innovent agreed to a 60 per cent price cut.
Despite the 60 per cent price cut, Yu said the actual impact on the company's revenue is much smaller than that, since prior to inclusion in the insurance coverage, the company had already offered 40 per cent discount to many patients through an assistance programme.

Innovent’s revenue may almost double this year to 2 billion yuan, Guotai Junan Securities analysts Ding Dan and Zhuang Zhuyuan forecast in a note. It may rise to 3.4 billion yuan next year and to 4.3 billion yuan in 2022, boosted by the expected launch of three more generic versions of antibody drugs for cancers and rheumatoid arthritis launched overseas.

Innovent fell 1 per cent in the morning session to HK$32.90. It had risen 10.9 per cent from Monday’s closing price just before its results announcement.