On June 14, two of Legend Capital‘s portfolio companies, Innovent Biologics, Inc. (Innovent) and PT Etana Biotechnologies Indonesia (Etana), jointly announced that the Indonesian Food and Drugs Authority (BPOM) had approved Bevagen (bevacizumab biosimilar), a recombinant humanized anti-VEGF monoclonal antibody drug for five indications including metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), metastatic triple negative breast cancer (mTNBC), advanced non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC), ovarian cancer (OC), and cervical cancer(CC). Under the approval of the BPOM, Bevagen will potentially be the first Chinese antibody drug to be marketed and locally produced in Southeast Asia.
Dr. Michael Yu, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Innovent, said, “We are pleased that under the strategic collaboration with Etana, the approval of Bevagen in Indonesia marked a meaningful step toward bringing Innovent’s innovative portfolio into the global market, benefitting patients globally. Pairing Etana’s commercial expertise in the local Indonesian market with Bevagen’s clinical profile, high-quality production and relative affordability, we are confident that Bevagen will launch to the market quickly and benefit many cancer patients.”
Nathan Tirtana, President Director of Etana, said, “Etana appreciates the support of BPOM for approving Bevagen for cancer patients in Indonesia. With this product, we believe we can provide better access to high-quality and affordable biosimilar drug to meet the need of cancer patients in Indonesia. Our next step is to implement the technology transfer and local Bevagen production in Indonesia via collaboration with Innovent.”
Legend Capital has been looking for investment and partnership opportunities in the Southeast Asian market since 2019 and ultimately invested in Etana in 2020. By leveraging the advantages of the portfolio ecosystem, Legend Capital has played an active role in promoting the strategic cooperation between Innovent and Etana.
Mr. Frank Hong, Managing Director of Legend Capital, said, “Congratulations to Innovent and Etana for the approval of the first biosimilar in Indonesia. This milestone achievement demonstrates the feasibility of expanding Chinese innovative drugs market access into the emerging markets. The emerging markets along the Belt and Road have significant demand for pharmaceutical products and unmet clinical needs, Chinese innovative therapeutics are particularly well suited to the needs of patients in developing countries given their quality and affordable prices. Legend Capital will continue to explore investment opportunities in the emerging markets and actively pioneer the path for Chinese high-end biologics’ overseas expansion, facilitating the globalization of Chinese pharmaceutical companies.”
Mr. Fei Qi, Executive Director of Legend Capital, said, “The cross-border investment and industrial collaboration in the Southeast Asian market possess unique challenges: from policy regulation, folk culture to healthcare system complexity. Etana has set up a competitive barrier of ‘Access + Manufacturing + Commercialization’ in Southeast Asia, and Legend Capital complemented Etana’s key ‘Business Development’ ability by leveraging its healthcare portfolio ecosystem. Legend Capital has provided a series of value-add services in terms of company strategy, business cooperation and subsequent financing to Etana since its investment. Etana has approached and discussed collaboration initiatives with more than 10 Chinese biopharmaceutical companies and plans to introduce more therapeutics that Indonesia currently lacks, such as cancer monoclonal antibodies, COVID vaccines, and antiviral infection drugs. Through the joint efforts of Etana and its partners, we believe that the company will be able to provide high-quality and affordable Chinese innovative drugs to Indonesia, Southeast Asia and even the Islamic world.”
Legend Capital has been firmly positioned to invest systematically in the field of innovative medicine. Adhering to the investment philosophy of “Global Vision, Chinese Insights”, Legend Capital is looking for truly internationally competitive technologies and teams to solve the unmet clinical needs; many of its portfolio companies have been listed on A-share or H-share successfully, such as Kawin Technology (688687.SH), Innovent Biologics (01801.HK), Hbm (02142.HK), Recbio Technology (2179.HK). At the same time, we also made investments in segment-leading companies such as GluBio Pharmaceutical, Ribo Life Science, PegBio, Exegenesis Bio, Lynk Pharmaceuticals and Innostellar Biotherapeutics.