投资者押注中国药企

Chinese biotech groups are on target to raise about $10bn this year from venture capital funding, initial public offerings and licensing deals with overseas pharma companies, in what is partly a bet that Chinese-developed drugs can compete globally.

中国的生物科技集团今年的目标是在风险投资、首次公开发行(IPO)以及与海外制药公司的许可交易中募集约100亿美元，这部分是因为确信中国研发的药物可以参与全球竞争。

China contributes about 4 per cent of global drug innovation, compared with 50 per cent from the US, according to Chinese pharmaceutical associations. That mirrors the country’s 4 per cent share of the $157bn that market research group EvaluatePharma estimates was spent globally last year on drug R&D.

据中国药品协会统计，中国在全球药物创新中的贡献约占4%，美国为50%。而据市场研究组织EvaluatePharma估计，去年全球药物研发的投入为1570亿美元，中国在其中的份额也为4%。

But that share is set to increase as scientists returning from overseas launch start-ups and domestic companies spend more on R&D, with about 800 new molecules currently under development in China — up from 240 in 2012 — about 80 of which are in phase III clinical trials, according to consultancy McKinsey.

但随着科学家纷纷从海外回国创办公司，以及国内企业加大对研发的投入，这一份额也将提高。据咨询机构麦肯锡(McKinsey)，目前中国正在研发的新药大约有800种——2012年为240种——其中约80%处于临床III期试验阶段。

Most Chinese innovation consists of “me-too” products that are similar to existing medicines and aimed at the domestic market — the world’s second-largest after the US with $117bn in annual pharmaceutical sales.

中国的创新药大多为“仿制”药，它们与现有药品类似，且针对国内市场。中国的药品市场已凭借每年1170亿美元的销售额成为仅次于美国的世界第二大市场。

However, a number of start-ups are looking to develop innovative products while a quarter of the trials are taking place outside China, McKinsey adds, underlining the increasing global ambitions of Chinese groups.

不过麦肯锡也表示，一些初创企业正寻求研发创新药，有四分之一的临床试验正在国外进行，突出了中国企业越来越大的全球野心。

But most of the drug trials completed by Chinese drugmakers in the US are early-stage, meaning it will be years before the products reach the market. Furthest ahead in the US is Shanghai-based Zensun’s heart failure drug Neucardin, which is preparing for phase III trials, according to consultancy Pharma Intelligence. Zensun raised $76m in a funding round this month.

但中国制药商在美国完成的大部分药物试验都是早期阶段的，这意味着离产品上市还需要几年的时间。根据咨询公司Pharma Intelligence，在美国最领先的是上海泽生(Zensun)的抗心衰药物，“重组人纽兰格林”(Neucardin)——目前正在准备临床III期试验。泽生在本月最新一轮融资中筹集了7600万美元。

Nasdaq-listed Chinese biotech company BeiGene in September sold overseas rights to a cancer medication to US drugmaker Celgene for $263m, with a further $980m tied to future sales — the biggest overseas licensing deal yet for a Chinese-developed drug. Celgene also took a $150m equity stake in BeiGene.

9月份，纳斯达克(Nasdaq)上市的中国生物科技公司百济神州(BeiGene)以2.63亿美元的价格将一款抗癌药物的海外权益出售给美国制药商新基(Celgene)，而且还可以额外获得未来销售相关的9.8亿美元，这是中国新药研发迄的最大的海外授权交易。新基还持有百济神州1.5亿美元的股份。

BeiGene launched in 2010 and is conducting trials for two cancer drugs, and another for an anaemia treatment in the US and Australia, as it eyes the international market.

百济神州成立于2010年，目前正在进行两种抗癌药物的试验，随着放眼国际市场，该公司还在美国和澳大利亚进行一项针对贫血症治疗的试验。

Mark Alles, Celgene chief executive, is upbeat about the prospects for pharma R&D in China. “True innovation is happening here in China, and multinational companies have to throw away the bias about where to go and how to think about where innovation is happening,” he says.

新基首席执行官马克?奥尔斯(Mark Alles)对中国新药研发的前景表示乐观。他说：“真正的创新正在中国发生，跨国公司必须放下成见去思考要去哪里，以及创新正在哪里发生。”

Meanwhile, shares in London-listed Chinese group Chi-Med have more than doubled in value this year after its cancer treatment Savolitinib showed progress in trials run with AstraZeneca, while its bowel cancer medicine Fruquintinib has entered phase III trials in China.

与此同时，伦敦上市的和黄中国医药科技（Hutchison China MediTech，简称：和黄医药）今年的市值也增长了一倍，此前其癌症治疗药物Savolitinib在阿斯利康(AstraZeneca)的主持下取得进展，同时其用于治疗肠癌的药物呋喹替尼(Fruquintinib)在中国也进入了临床III期试验。

Chinese biotech companies have raised $2.8bn from market listings in the past 12 months, according to McKinsey. WuXi Biologics, which in August sold rights to a drug developed with another Chinese group to US company Arcus Biosciences for $816m, raised $586m in an initial public offering in Hong Kong in June. Zai Lab, which launched in 2013 and specialises in cancer drugs, raised $172m in a Nasdaq IPO in October.

据麦肯锡，中国的生物科技公司在过去一年从上市中筹得了28亿美元。今年6月在香港上市的药明生物(WuXi Biologics)首次公开发行(IPO)筹得了5.86亿美元，8月份该公司又以8.16亿美元的价格将一项与另一家中国集团共同研发的药物的权益出售给美国企业Arcus Biosciences。2013年成立的再鼎医药(Zai Lab)专门从事抗癌药物研发，该公司10月份在纳斯达克的IPO中融资1.72亿美元。

Alongside Chinese pharma’s global push, the domestic market offers huge potential for sales as the burden of chronic disease in China grows — 4.3m cancer cases are diagnosed each year and the number is expected to rise. Investors have put record sums of money into China’s biotech start-ups amounting to $3bn in the first half of 2017, according to ChinaBio, a consultancy.

除了中国药企的全球化扩展，国内市场也为销售提供了巨大的潜力，因为中国人的慢性病负担在加重——每年新增430万癌症确诊病例，而且这个数字预计还会升高。咨询公司ChinaBio称，在2017年的上半年，投资者投给中国生物科技创业企业的总资金达到创纪录的30亿美元。

Venture capital and private equity funds focused on China life sciences are on track to close $30bn in funding this year, adds ChinaBio, including foreign investors such as Fidelity International, which launched a $250m China healthcare fund in September.

ChinaBio补充道，包括富达国际(Fidelity International)等境外投资机构在内，今年专注于中国生命科学领域的风险资本和私人股本基金将完成300亿美元的融资。富达国际于9月份发起了一个规模达2.5亿美元的中国医疗基金。

“More and more venture capitalists are willing to invest in the [Chinese] biotech industry. We have so many local funds wanting to invest in innovative companies,” says Jinzi Wu, chief executive of cancer and hepatitis drug developer Ascletis, which raised $100m this year from investors including US bank Goldman Sachs.

“越来越多的风险投资家愿意投资（中国）生物科技行业。我们拥有这么多的本地基金希望投资于创新型企业，”癌症与肝炎药物开发商歌礼生物(Ascletis)的首席执行官吴劲梓说。今年，歌礼生物向包括高盛(Goldman Sachs)在内的投资者融入了1亿美元资金。

Investment has been encouraged by Beijing’s sweeping reforms of its drug approval process since 2015, which have cut approval times for clinical trials to 22 months from 37 in 2014, with 110 such approvals made this year, according to McKinsey.

自2015年北京方面对药物审批程序实施全面改革以来，投资受到了鼓励。麦肯锡表示，改革结果是进入临床试验的审批周期从2014年的37个月缩短至22个月，今年获批进入试验的药物为110种。

“Speeding up the process to shorten the timeframe to be more or less close to the US is very important for innovation, because timing is everything,” says Wu Chengbin, founder of Epimab, an oncology-focused start-up which raised $25m in a funding round this year.

“加快审批流程、把时间框架或多或少缩短至接近美国的水平，对于创新而言非常重要，因为时间就是一切，”专攻抗肿瘤药物的创业企业岸迈生物(Epimab)的创始人吴辰冰说。岸迈生物今年完成了一轮2500万美元的融资。

Analysts say that partnerships with western drugmakers such as the BeiGgene and Celgene tie-up are not based purely on the promise of a Chinese company’s drug. “Celgene is not a leading multinational like Pfizer?.?.?.?and this deal can help it expand its business in China,” says John Lin, a partner at consultancy Roland Berger.

分析人士表示，与BeiGgene和Celgene等西方药企达成的合作关系，并非单纯基于一家中国公司的药物的前景。“Celgene并非辉瑞(Pfizer)那样的顶级跨国企业……这一交易可以帮它扩展在华业务，”咨询公司罗兰贝格(Roland Berger)的合伙人林江翰说。

Most Chinese biotechs remain focused on serving the rapidly growing Chinese-market with “me-too” variations of existing drugs, limiting their global potential.

中国大多数生物科技企业仍主要专注于以现有药物的“仿制”版本满足快速增长的本土市场，这限制了它们的全球扩展潜力。

For instance, Zai Labs’ most promising drugs are mainly molecules bought from multinationals to be developed for use in China. As a result, some investors are wary of inflated valuations.

例如，再鼎医药(Zai Labs)的最具前景的药物主要是从跨国企业购买、然后在中国开发使用的分子。所以，有些投资者对过高估值非常警惕。

“Most of the innovative drugs being developed in China are in the me-too category,” says Lin Liang, of Eli Lilly’s Asian venture capital arm, which has poured nearly $500m into mostly Chinese start-ups since 2008.

“大多数在中国开发的药物属于仿制药，”礼来(Eli Lilly)旗下亚洲风险资本部门的林亮说。自2008年以来，该部门已向主要由中国资本控股的创业企业注资近5亿美元。

“The valuations for innovative pharma companies in China are much higher than before, which is a concern.”

 “如今，中国创新型医药企业的估值比以往高得多，这一点值得关注。”