Akesobio (康方生物) Pre-IPO - Thoughts on valuation
Akesobio is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company with a focus on developing biologics drugs for oncology and autoimmune. The company plans to raise up to USD $300 million via a HK listing.In our previous insight, we had discussed that the company features two differentiated PD-1 related drugs in their core assets. Penpulimab (AK105) is a potential best-in-class PD-1 monoclonal antibody thanks to an improvement that could reduce the side effect. Readings from clinical research are not yet conclusive on the superiority of the efficacy but show improved safety profile vs existing PD-1 products. Another PD-1 related product, AK104 is a next-generation, potentially first-in-class humanized tetrameric bi-specific antibody targeting PD-1 and CTLA-4. It shows promising results in the early clinical trials, particularly in the big GC/GEJ indication. We also discussed AK101 (IL-12/IL-23) which targets autoimmune disease and AK102 which targets hyperlipidemia and high cholesterol.
From the perspectives of clinical trial results and potential market size, we think these two products are not as impressive as its two PD-1 related drugs. We are of the view that the company has a strong management team with drug discovery backgrounds but lacks experience in managing clinical trials and commercialization. However, this could be complemented by its partnership with leading pharmaceutical companies, such as Sino Biopharm. Its investor backing is decent with a mix of domestic institutional investors and international healthcare specialist investors.
In this note, we will provide our thoughts on the company's risk-adjusted valuation on its assets. We valued the company's clinical-stage assets at USD 1,180 million.
Johnson & Johnson is a holding company engaged in the research and development, manufacture and sale of a range of products in the health care field. The company has three business segments: Consumer, which includes a range of products focused on personal healthcare used in the beauty, over-the-counter pharmaceutical, baby care, oral care, women's health and wound care markets; Pharmaceutical, which is focused on six therapeutic areas: immunology, infectious diseases, neuroscience, oncology, cardiovascular and metabolism and pulmonary hypertension; and Medical Devices, which includes products used in the orthopaedic, surgery, interventional solutions, and eye health fields.
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