Junshi Biosciences Reports 2023 Full Year Financial Results and Provides Business Updates
During 2023, the company continued to focus on “unmet medical needs” and have made original, innovative and breakthrough progress in discovery, R&D and commercialization of innovative therapies and novel drugs. Here are the notable achievements and milestones: Advancements in the pipeline: Junshi Biosciences’ innovative R&D field has expanded from monoclonal antibodies to the research and development of more drug modalities, including small molecules drugs, polypeptide drugs, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), bi-specific or multi-specific antibodies and nucleic acid drugs, as well as the exploration of next-generation innovative therapies including cancer and autoimmune diseases. The product pipelines cover five major therapeutic areas, including malignant tumors, autoimmune diseases, chronic metabolic diseases, neurologic diseases and infectious diseases. A total of three drugs (TUOYI®, JUNMAIKANG and MINDEWEI) are being commercialized, around 30 assets are undergoing clinical trials, and over 20 drug candidates are at the preclinical drug development stage. In January 2023, the marketing of MINDEWEI (Deuremidevir Hydrobromide Tablets, code: JT001/VV116), an oral nucleoside analog anti-SARS-CoV-2 Category 1 innovative drug, was conditionally approved by the National Medical Products Administration of China (the “NMPA”) for the treatment of adult patients with mild to moderate COVID-19.In February 2023, the United Kingdom’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (the “MHRA”) accepted the the marketing authorization application (the “MAA”) for toripalimab combined with cisplatin and gemcitabine for the first-line treatment of patients with locally recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma (“NPC”), as well as toripalimab combined with paclitaxel and cisplatin for the first-line treatment of patients with unresectable locally advanced/recurrent or metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (“ESCC”).In March 2023, the investigational new drug (“IND”) application for JS010 (a recombinant humanized anti-CGRP monoclonal antibody injection) was approved by the NMPA.In April 2023, the NMPA accepted the supplemental new drug application (“sNDA”) for TUOYI® in combination with chemotherapy as perioperative treatment and monotherapy as consolidation therapy after adjuvant therapy for the treatment of resectable stage III non-small cell lung cancer (“NSCLC”). This application was later approved for marketing in December 2023, marking the first and only approved perioperative therapy for lung cancer domestically.In April 2023, the new drug application (“NDA”) for ongericimab (a recombinant humanized anti-PCSK9 monoclonal antibody, code: JS002) was accepted by the NMPA.In April 2023, the IND application for JS401 (a small interfering RNA (“siRNA”) drug targeting angiopoietin-like protein 3 (“ANGPTL3”) messenger RNA (“mRNA”)) was approved by the NMPA.In May 2023, the NMPA accepted the sNDA for TUOYI® in combination with paclitaxel injection (albumin-bound) for the treatment of PD-L1 positive (CPS ≥ 1) untreated metastatic or recurrent metastatic triple-negative breast cancer.In June and August 2023, the IND application for a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, international multi-center phase III clinical study of tifcemalimab (a recombinant humanized anti-BTLA monoclonal antibody, code: TAB004/JS004) in combination with toripalimab as consolidation therapy in patients with limited-stage small cell lung cancer (“LS-SCLC”) without disease progression following chemo-radiotherapy was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (the “FDA”) and the NMPA, respectively.In July 2023, the sNDA for TUOYI® in combination with axitinib for the first-line treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic renal cell carcinoma (“RCC”) was accepted by the NMPA.In July 2023, the sNDA for TUOYI® in combination with etoposide plus platinum as the first-line treatment of extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (“ES-SCLC”) was accepted by the NMPA, which marked the tenth marketing application submitted for TUOYI® in China.In August 2023, the IND application for JS207 (a recombinant humanized anti-PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibody) was approved by the NMPA.In September 2023, the primary endpoint of progression free survival (“PFS”, based on independent radiological review) of a randomized, controlled, multi-center phase III clinical study (NCT03430297) of toripalimab versus dacarbazine for the first-line treatment of unresectable or metastatic melanoma had met the pre-defined efficacy boundary.In October 2023, the FDA approved the Biologics License Application (the “BLA”) for toripalimab (U.S. trade name: LOQTORZITM), in combination with cisplatin and gemcitabine for the first-line treatment of adults with metastatic or recurrent locally advanced NPC, and as a single agent, for the treatment of adults with recurrent, unresectable, or metastatic NPC with disease progression on or after platinum-containing chemotherapy. Toripalimab is the first and only drug approved in the United States for the treatment of NPC, and is also the first innovative biological drug independently developed and manufactured in China that was approved for marketing by the FDA.In December 2023, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (the “TGA”) of the Australian Government’s Department of Health and Aged Care accepted the New Chemical Entity (the “NCE”) application for toripalimab in combination with cisplatin and gemcitabine for the first-line treatment of adults with metastatic or recurrent locally advanced NPC, and as a single agent, for the treatment of adults with recurrent, unresectable, or metastatic NPC with disease progression on or after platinum-containing chemotherapy. Additionally, the TGA also granted an orphan drug designation to toripalimab for the treatment of NPC.In December 2023, TUOYI® and MINDEWEI were successfully added to Category B of the National Drug List for Basic Medical Insurance, Work-Related Injury Insurance and Maternity Insurance (Year 2023) (the “NRDL”) upon negotiations. Notably, three new TUOYI® indications were added, bringing the total to six indications included in the NRDL. TUOYI® is the only anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody included in the NRDL for the treatment of melanoma. The inclusion of the MINDEWEI indication for adult patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 marked its first official listing in the NRDL.
Update on external collaborations In March 2023, the company entered into a shareholders agreement with Rxilient Biotech and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Excellmab. The company would subscribe to the newly issued shares of Excellmab by payment in kind to obtain 40% equity interest in Excellmab. Subject to the fulfillment of the conditions precedent as agreed under the Shareholders Agreement, the company would substantially perform its capital contribution obligations, and express its intention to enter into a license agreement with Excellmab in the form agreed upon by the parties at the time of entering into the Shareholders Agreement, thereby granting Excellmab an exclusive license and other relevant rights to develop and commercialize intravenous toripalimab in Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Vietnam. According to the R&D progress of toripalimab and other