Daily Brief Health Care: Concord Healthcare Group, Abbvie Inc, Alteogen Inc, Immix Biopharma Inc, Shield Therapeutics and more

• Concord Healthcare Group (CHG HK) is looking to raise at least US$100m in its upcoming Hong Kong IPO.
• Concord Healthcare (Concord) is an oncology health platform in China researching and implementing advanced oncology diagnostic and treatment technologies.
• As per Frost and Sullivan (F&S), in 2021, Concord was the market leader among private oncology healthcare groups in China, as measured by cancer treatment empowerment service revenue.

• Abbvie Inc (ABBV US) reported 4Q22 results, with revenue increasing 2% to $15B, mainly driven by Skyrizi and Rinvoq. EPS grew 17% to $3.60, better than consensus and company guidance.
• The company has initiated 2023 EPS guidance at $10.70–11.10, representing a decline of 19–22% YoY, as Humira has started facing competition in the U.S.
• 2023 guidance contemplates the expected headwind from direct biosimilar competition, with the U.S. Humira sales declining ~37%, which is at the lower end of previous erosion projection of 35–55%.

• Alteogen Inc (196170 KS) signed its fourth licensing deal for ALT-B4, a proprietary human recombinant hyaluronidase enzyme, with Sandoz. Given the strong demand more such deals are expected to follow.
• Alteogen is reportedly in talks with global pharmaceutical companies for a technology transfer deal for Herceptin SC biosimilar. If successful, Alteogen will be a re-rating candidate.
• Alteogen has established Altos Biologics to facilitate global phase 3 clinical trials and commercial development of Eylea biosimilar. Altos Biologics aims to be listed on the KOSDAQ in 2024.

Immix Biopharma has announced interim response rate data from its newly formed subsidiary, Nexcella, concerning the BCMA-targeting cell therapy NXC-201 in multiple myeloma and AL amyloidosis. The data, presented at the 5th European CAR T-cell Meeting, shows a 90% overall response rate (ORR) in 29 patients (of 42 total enrolled) treated with NXC-201 at the recommended Phase II dose (RP2D). This result is comparable to approved BCMA-targeting cell therapies. Importantly, cytokine release syndrome was manageable, and no neurotoxicity was observed at the RP2D (800m cells). In our view, NXC-201’s potential main point of differentiation is its favorable safety profile, which we believe the latest data supports. Immix will continue to investigate NXC-201 as the first potential outpatient CAR T-cell therapy. This announcement follows the recent initiation of patient enrolment in a new Phase Ib/IIa clinical trial, investigating the use of Immix’s lead asset, IMX-110, in combination with tislelizumab (BeiGene/Novartis’s anti-PD-1 antibody) for the treatment of advanced solid tumors.

Shield Therapeutics’ FY22 trading update reported FY22 revenues of £8.5m, a material improvement on the £1.5m recorded in FY21 and broadly in line with our estimate of £8.8m. Sharp growth in prescription volumes (25,200 in FY22) continued to drive Accrufer sales in the US (£2.8m), although we note that the number of prescriptions in Q422 (9,324) was slightly lower than previous guidance of 9,700. However, this was offset by better-than-expected European royalty revenues of £1.3m (£0.9m in FY21), translating to a solid £0.5m in Q422 (from £0.14m in Q322). A key highlight of the year was the strategic co-commercialisation of Accrufer in the US with Viatris (previously Mylan), a leading global generic pharmaceutical manufacturer, in December 2022, allowing for broader market coverage and faster ramp-up. We expect benefits from the enlarged salesforce (c 100 from 22 at end FY22) to start showing from Q223. Based on our projections, Shield remains funded to profitability following receipt of a $5m upfront payment from Viatris, and subsequent $10m in incremental funding from AOP Health, and $21.7m from an equity raise.