Asia Pac IPO & Placement Research, China biotech, Aequitas Research

Ke Yan, CFA, FRM

Asia Pac IPO & Placement Research, China biotech

IPOs and Placements coverage across Asia Pacific

Aequitas Research

We cover all listing across the Asia Pacific along with follow-up placements. As of Dec 2020, our team had covered 539 IPOs with a hit rate of 73.5% and 685 placements with a hit rate of 66.8%.

We combine fundamental bottom-up views with our proprietary quantitative framework to provide a holistic coverage across new listings and placements. Our coverage includes pre-IPO notes before the deal is launched, follow-up analysis once the deal is live and post-listing trading analysis as well.

Equity Capital Markets

CARSgen Therapeutics / Equity Capital Markets

<p>Carsgen is a China and US-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on CAR-T therapies. The company has four CAR-T products and one monoclonal antibody in the clinical stage.  The company is looking to raise up to USD 300m via a Hong Kong listing.</p><p>The company has many selling points, including the potentially best-in-class BCMA target for the indication of r/r MM, and its advancement in two targets for the CAR-T therapy, namely CLDN18.2 and GPC3. It has its own technologies that improved the safety for CAR-T technology and also demonstrated preliminary efficacy in the solid tumor which was challenging for the CAR-T therapy. Having looked at numbers from its clinical trials for CT053, we are of the view that this is a promising therapy for r/r MM but the market will be mostly in the US where the company has started clinical trial. As the company is leading in the CLDN18.2 and GPC3, there might be upside if the target is proven to work for CAR-T therapy.</p><p>The company has a strong management team with academic experiences. Its pre-IPO investors are strong but are mainly domestic institutions. </p>

Carsgen is a China and US-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on CAR-T therapies. The company has four CAR-T products and one monoclonal antibody in the clinical stage.  The company is looking to raise up to USD 300m via a Hong Kong listing.The company has many selling points, including the potentially best-in-class BCMA target for the indication of r/r MM, and its advancement in two targets for the CAR-T therapy, namely CLDN18.2 and GPC3. It has its own technologies that improved the safety for CAR-T technology and also demonstrated preliminary efficacy in the solid tumor which was challenging for the CAR-T therapy. Having looked at numbers from its clinical trials for CT053, we are of the view that this is a promising therapy for r/r MM but the market will be mostly in the US where the company has started clinical trial. As the company is leading in the CLDN18.2 and GPC3, there might be upside if the target is proven to work for CAR-T therapy.The company has a strong management team with academic experiences. Its pre-IPO investors are strong but are mainly domestic institutions. 

CARsgen (科济药业) Pre-IPO: Scientific Bet on New CAR-T Targets

Founder

Kemp Dolliver, CFA

Cherrystone Hill Research

Equity Bottom-Up

<p>We spend a substantial portion of our time thinking about oncology in China: one of the largest unmet needs in healthcare globally. The World Health Organization estimates that there are 4.3 million new cases and 2.9 million deaths annually. Historically, treatment options have been limited compared to the US, EU, and many of China’s neighbors. Fortunately, the government has implemented several reforms in recent years to accelerate development and importation of innovative treatments and to provide reimbursement for them. </p><p>This Insight includes names to consider for two approaches to invest in this opportunity:</p><p>1) Invest in the leading multi-asset oncology companies.</p><p>2) Invest in a basket of companies with narrower oncology offerings.</p>

We spend a substantial portion of our time thinking about oncology in China: one of the largest unmet needs in healthcare globally. The World Health Organization estimates that there are 4.3 million new cases and 2.9 million deaths annually. Historically, treatment options have been limited compared to the US, EU, and many of China’s neighbors. Fortunately, the government has implemented several reforms in recent years to accelerate development and importation of innovative treatments and to provide reimbursement for them. This Insight includes names to consider for two approaches to invest in this opportunity:1) Invest in the leading multi-asset oncology companies.2) Invest in a basket of companies with narrower oncology offerings.

BeiGene: Cancer Treatment in China--The Underestimated Opportunity

HK/China Healthcare Analyst (ex-Fosun Pharma)

Xinyao (Criss) Wang

<p style="text-align: justify;">On November 20, another unprofitable biopharmaceutical company, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/antengene-corporation-limited" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:29705:1" rel="noopener">Antengene (6996 HK)</a>, will be listed on HKEX at a price of HK$18.08 per share. Currently, Antengene has a total of 12 innovative drugs in its pipeline. Among them, 6 drugs are basically from license-in mode while the rest are mainly self-developed. From the public information, it is still unknown that whether Antengene would use the license-in mode (like <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/everest-medicines" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:29224:1" rel="noopener">Everest Medicines (1952 HK)</a>) to achieve rapid financing and then develop a competitive pipeline in the future. The following is mainly to analyze the value and potential of the current pipeline, and also provide some thoughts on valuation.</p>

On November 20, another unprofitable biopharmaceutical company, Antengene (6996 HK), will be listed on HKEX at a price of HK$18.08 per share. Currently, Antengene has a total of 12 innovative drugs in its pipeline. Among them, 6 drugs are basically from license-in mode while the rest are mainly self-developed. From the public information, it is still unknown that whether Antengene would use the license-in mode (like Everest Medicines (1952 HK)) to achieve rapid financing and then develop a competitive pipeline in the future. The following is mainly to analyze the value and potential of the current pipeline, and also provide some thoughts on valuation.

Antengene - Insights on Pipeline and Valuation

<p>JW Therapeutics raised HKD 2,197 million (USD 387m) from its global offering and will list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange tomorrow November 2nd.</p>
<p>n our previous note, we discussed that the company is backed by a strong shareholder Juno, and has a strong foundation in the technology underlying the CAR-T therapy, which is demonstrated by its superior safety data for its Relma-cel. In addition to the CD19 target, the company has also obtained the technology for the BCMA target. The company's T-cell receptor-based pipeline products for solid tumor (liver cancer) with anti-T cell exhaustion enhancement based on the technologies from Eureka and Lyell have good potential as well. </p>
<p>In this note, we will look at the allocation and implications. We think the IPO valuation is reasonable with long term upsides given its leadership in CAR-T therapy.  However, we note that both Legend Biotech and Immunotech Biopharm have fallen substantially from their peak, which doesn't bode well for JW Therapeutics' listing. </p>
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<h2>Our previous coverage on JW Therapeutics</h2>
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<p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/jw-therapeutics-pre-ipo-car-t-leader-in-china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">JW Therapeutics (药明巨诺) Pre-IPO: CAR-T leader in China</a></p>
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<p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/jw-therapeutics-pre-ipo-pricing-with-in-license-potential" target="_blank" rel="noopener">JW Therapeutics (药明巨诺) Pre-IPO: Pricing with in-license potential</a></p>
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<li dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/jw-therapeutics-ipo-free-options-for-potential-license-in" target="_blank" rel="noopener">JW Therapeutics (药明巨诺) IPO: Free Options for Potential License-In</a></li>
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JW Therapeutics raised HKD 2,197 million (USD 387m) from its global offering and will list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange tomorrow November 2nd.
n our previous note, we discussed that the company is backed by a strong shareholder Juno, and has a strong foundation in the technology underlying the CAR-T therapy, which is demonstrated by its superior safety data for its Relma-cel. In addition to the CD19 target, the company has also obtained the technology for the BCMA target. The company's T-cell receptor-based pipeline products for solid tumor (liver cancer) with anti-T cell exhaustion enhancement based on the technologies from Eureka and Lyell have good potential as well. 
In this note, we will look at the allocation and implications. We think the IPO valuation is reasonable with long term upsides given its leadership in CAR-T therapy.  However, we note that both Legend Biotech and Immunotech Biopharm have fallen substantially from their peak, which doesn't bode well for JW Therapeutics' listing. 

Our previous coverage on JW Therapeutics




JW Therapeutics (药明巨诺) Pre-IPO: CAR-T leader in China


JW Therapeutics (药明巨诺) Pre-IPO: Pricing with in-license potential

JW Therapeutics (药明巨诺) IPO: Free Options for Potential License-In



JW Therapeutics (药明巨诺) IPO Trading: Peer Performance Doesn't Support a Strong Debut

<p style="text-align: justify;">On October 18, after two months of waiting, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/jw-therapeutics" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:29679:1" rel="noopener">JW Therapeutics (2126 HK)</a> finally received a positive reply from the HKEX. This means that after <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/legend-biotech-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:28963:1" rel="noopener">Legend Biotech Corp (LEGN US)</a> becomes China's first listed company for CAR-T therapy, JW Therapeutics will soon become the second one in the same field.</p>

On October 18, after two months of waiting, JW Therapeutics (2126 HK) finally received a positive reply from the HKEX. This means that after Legend Biotech Corp (LEGN US) becomes China's first listed company for CAR-T therapy, JW Therapeutics will soon become the second one in the same field.

JW Therapeutics - Concerns Are in the Short Term but Still Promising in the Long Term

China

Legend Biotech Corporation operates as a biopharmaceutical company. The Company engages in discovery and development of novel cell therapies for oncology and other indications. Legend Biotech serves customers in the State of New Jersey.

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Legend Biotech Corp (LEGN US)

CARsgen (科济药业) Pre-IPO: Scientific Bet on New CAR-T Targets

CT053 is a promising CAR-T therapy for r/r MM but the market will be mostly in the US where the company has started clinical trial. Upside could...

Ke Yan, CFA, FRM

BeiGene: Cancer Treatment in China--The Underestimated Opportunity

We think that cancer is underdiagnosed and undertreated in China. We analyze the data and propose two approaches for investing in this theme.

Kemp Dolliver, CFA

Antengene - Insights on Pipeline and Valuation

This article analyzed the value and potential of Antengene's current pipeline, its competitors' products and also include some thoughts on valuation.

Xinyao (Criss) Wang

JW Therapeutics (药明巨诺) IPO Trading: Peer Performance Doesn't Support a Strong Debut

In this note, we will look at the allocation and implications. We think the IPO valuation is reasonable with long term upsides given its leadership...

Ke Yan, CFA, FRM

JW Therapeutics - Concerns Are in the Short Term but Still Promising in the Long Term

This article analyzed the concerns (market size, high cost, financial performance, etc.) for JW Therapeutics in the short run but also include...

Xinyao (Criss) Wang

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