一家名不見經傳的中國公司研發出一種藥物，打敗了全球最暢銷的藥物（2/2）

 Recently Yahoo News on-line picked up the following:

A little-known Chinese company made a drug that beat the world’s biggest-selling medicine (2/2)

Wayne Chang, Will Ripley and Eric Cheung, CNN

Tue, February 25, 2025 at 6:59 p.m. PST·5 min read

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According to a research note published by HSBC Qianhai Securities earlier this month, China is becoming an innovation hub for the entire industry, with the number of licensing deals jumping from just 46 in 2017 to more than 200 last year. The total deal amount was just $4 billion in 2017, and rose to $57 billion last year, it said.

And figures from market intelligence firm Mergermarket indicated that large pharmaceutical transactions worth $50 million or more involving Chinese firms grew nearly 30% in 2024 compared to the previous year.

Cui Cui, managing director of healthcare research for Jefferies, said Chinese biotech firms’ research capabilities and development efficiency are catching up, thanks to factors such as strong government support, foreign investment and a wealth of domestic talent.

“In the past, [Chinese biotech] are perceived to be only copycats, but in the future, it might be able to compete with the global best-in-class pharmaceutical companies,” Cui told CNN.

 

Doubts at home

But while Akeso’s achievement is making waves overseas, debate is raging in China over the quality of domestically produced generic drugs, which have the same active ingredients as patented drugs but are much cheaper.

Distrust over the track record of domestically produced medicine runs deep in China. Such concerns spiraled into public uproar last month over the alleged questionable quality of Chinese generic drugs, which has led to an official investigation.

China’s health regulator subsequently defended the safety of the drugs, saying the probe found the quality concerns to be unsubstantiated. Several Beijing residents told CNN last week that they were not familiar with Akeso or its new drug and still preferred imported drugs.

“To be honest, I tend to choose the more expensive medicine. After all, you get what you pay for,” Gu Zhihao, a Beijing resident, told CNN.

US investors and regulators have previously questioned the quality of clinical trial data gathered in China. Liang said the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has rejected drugs developed in the country in the past because the trial setup was “not rigorous enough.”

Akeso’s new drug, which is not a generic, has been approved by China’s pharmaceutical regulator for some lung cancer patients. But it is still years away from being sold in the US.

A global trial is now in the works for later this year, which could further prove its efficacy, according to Cui. If the outcome is sound, it would be further evidence of the strides China has made in developing cutting-edge drugs.

Translation

一家名不見經傳的中國公司研發出一種藥物，打敗了全球最暢銷的藥物（2/2）

（繼續）

根據匯豐前海證券本月稍早發布的一份研究報告，中國正在成為這整個產業的創新中心，其授權交易數量從 2017 年的 46 項躍升至去年的 200 多項。該公司表示，2017年交易總額僅40億美元，去年則升至570億美元。

市場情報公司 Mergermarket 的數據顯示，2024 年涉及中國企業的價值 5,000 萬美元或以上的大型醫藥交易比上一年增長了近 30%。

Jefferies的醫療保健研究董事總經理 Cui Cui表示，得益於政府的大力支持、外國投資和豐富的國內人才等因素，中國生物科技公司的研發能力和開發效率正在迎頭趕上。

Cui告訴 CNN： “過去，人們認為（中國生物科技）只是模仿者，但未來它或許能夠與全球一流的製藥公司競爭。”

 

國內疑慮

然而，儘管康方生物的成功在海外引起轟動，但中國國內對國產仿製藥的品質卻存在激烈爭論。

中國國內對國產藥品的業績記錄存在著根深蒂固的不信任。上個月，中國仿製藥品質問題引發民眾擔憂，並引發官方調查。

中國衛生監管機構隨後為這些藥品的安全性進行辯護，表示調查發現的品質問題沒有根據。上週，幾名北京居民告訴 CNN，他們不熟悉康方生物及其新藥，仍然更喜歡進口藥。

北京居民 Gu Zhihao 告訴 CNN: 「說實話，我傾向於選擇更昂貴的藥物。畢竟，一分錢一分貨」。

美國投資者和監管機構先前曾對中國收集的臨床試驗數據的品質提出質疑。Rebecca Liang 說，美國食品藥物管理局（FDA）過去曾拒絕該國研發的藥物，因為試驗設置「不夠嚴格」。

康方生物的新藥並非仿製藥，已獲得中國藥品監管機構的批准，可用於治療某些肺癌患者。但它距離在美國銷售仍需數年時間。

Cui表示，目前正準備在今年稍後進行全球試驗，這將進一步證明其有效性。如果結果良好，這將進一步證明中國在研發尖端藥物方面取得了長足進步。

       So, Akeso has shaken up the biotech sector with its new lung cancer drug known as Ivonescimab.In a test conducted in China, the performance of this new drug was found more effective when compared with Keytruda, according to clinical data released at the World Conference on Lung Cancer. I am interested in knowing the result of a global trial on this medicine.