Chinese treatments benefit world
GOING GLOBAL | Armed with innovative drugs, BeiGene goes from strength to strength overseas
On Feb 17, BeiGene Ltd, a mainland biotech company listed on both the Hong Kong stock exchange and the Nasdaq stock market, announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration has accepted to review its supplemental marketing application seeking approval for Brukinsa (zanubrutinib) for the treatment of adult patients with Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia, a type of blood cancer.
In November 2019, the drug received accelerated approval in the US to treat mantle cell lymphoma in adult patients. It thus became the first Chinese cancer treatment approved for the US market.
BeiGene’s rapid inroads into the global market signal the coming of age of China’s biotech industry. Homegrown treatments are now regarded top-class and have been receiving regulatory approvals abroad to be offered to people with urgent clinical needs.
That marks a contrast to the past when foreign pharmaceutical companies would make a beeline for the huge domestic market in China, an economy flush with high growth and improving business environment.
China’s biotech companies such as BeiGene have made a name for themselves with intense focus on research and development of innovative drugs.
In June, BeiGene’s drug Brukinsa received conditional approval in China as a treatment for adult patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma who have received at least one prior therapy, and as a treatment for adult patients with MCL who have received at least one prior therapy.
Currently, more than 20 marketing applications for Brukinsa have been submitted, covering around 45 countries and regions globally, including the United States, China and the European Union.
The company said it aims to provide Chinese treatments to patients worldwide, and is making big efforts to achieve the goal through product research and development, and commercialization practices at a global level.
As of January, the company had built an R&D team of more than 2,100 people at home and abroad, accounting for 40 percent of its employees. They have been conducting 60 clinical trials in more than 35 countries and regions, among which 25 are phase III or potentially registration-enabling studies.
More than 12,000 patients and healthy subjects have been enrolled for the trials, among whom more than 5,700 are overseas.
“The future of Chinese innovative pharmaceutical companies relies on successful global operations, because that is a significant way for Chinese pharmaceutical companies to grow into international pharmaceutical giants,” said Wu Xiaobin, president of BeiGene.
It is now planning an initial public offering on the technology-focused STAR Market of the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The company has 47 drug assets at clinical or commercial stage, including two independently developed commercial-stage drugs.
Its second drug at commercial stage, the anti-PD-1 antibody tislelizumab, also proved to be a success targeting at both domestic and global markets. Tislelizumab is the first drug from BeiGene’s immuno-oncology biologics program and is being developed globally for the treatment of a broad array of both solid tumor and hematologic cancers.
Apart from three approved indications and two indication-pending approvals that BeiGene has received in China, the drug currently spans 15 potentially registration-enabling clinical trials globally. The company has enrolled over 7,700 patients for the drug’s trials, including about 2,500 patients in more than 20 countries and regions overseas.
In January, an agreement between multinational pharmaceutical giant Novartis and BeiGene was announced, which outlicensed the cancer treatment to the former.
According to the deal, Novartis will develop, manufacture and commercialize tislelizumab in the US, Canada, Mexico, member countries of the European Union, the United Kingdom, Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Russia and Japan.
BeiGene will receive a record $2.2 billion from Novartis for the arrangement. The upfront cash payment will be $650 million and the company is eligible to receive up to $1.3 billion upon the achievement of regulatory milestones, and $250 million upon the achievement of sales milestones, in addition to royalties on future sales of tislelizumab in licensed territories.
Wu said the company has established a strong global product R&D and commercialization system, as well as advanced facilities and manufacturing technique for production, to support the launch and commercialization of more innovative drugs in overseas markets.
“We expect to have up to 12 commercial-stage assets by the end of 2021, with more than 30 new assets in pipelines, and are determined and confident to build more commercial teams in the world to meet commercialization needs of those new products,” Wu said.
“R&D, production and commercialization capacity are our core competence.”
The company has built up commercial teams in developed countries including the US that have local employees, and in the next step, will expand presence in developing countries, especially those participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, Wu said.
Developing countries tend to have limited innovation capacity for new drug development, and cannot afford expensive drugs, and thus are often neglected, which creates opportunities for Chinese pharmaceutical companies that can offer quality drugs at affordable prices, he said.
Wang Lai, senior vice-president of BeiGene, observed Chinese pharmaceutical companies used to be followers in new drug development, but the landscape has been changing fast as many of them strengthen their innovation to develop first-inclass drugs. The increasing number of license-out deals in the Chinese pharmaceutical industry is just a reflection of such a trend, he said.
A recent report by Soochow Securities said the go-global strategy has become important for Chinese pharmaceutical companies even as they compete for domestic market share. Under the circumstances, considerable price cuts may be required for a drug to get into the national essential drug list for reimbursement.
As more Chinese pharmaceutical companies eye global markets, they are expected to have greater initiative and bargaining power in the global pharmaceutical market, said the report released in December.
A recent case is an out-license deal between US-based Eli Lilly and Co and Hong Kong-listed mainland biotech company Junshi Biosciences.
Last month, the USFDA granted an Emergency Use Authorization to Eli Lilly’s combination of antibody drugs, bamlanivimab (700 milligrams) and etesevimab (1,400 mg), for the treatment of COVID-19. The therapy is authorized to treat mild to moderate COVID-19 in patients aged 12 and older who are at high risk for progressing to severe COVID-19 or hospitalization.
Lilly licensed etesevimab from Shanghai-based Junshi Biosciences in May as the antibody was poised to enter clinical testing. The antibody was jointly developed by Junshi Biosciences and the Institute of Microbiology, which is part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
German premium carmaker Audi is aiming to create a golden decade in the world’s largest automotive market. One of the goals is for it to regain the top position it enjoyed for around three decades.
In an interview last week, Audi China President Werner Eichhorn, who is less than a year into the job, said the ambition is based on three pillars.
One of them is that the company’s CEO, Markus Duesmann, attaches great importance to China, which is Audi’s largest market and main source of revenue and profit.
Duesmann is the first top executive of any premium carmaker to take direct charge of its China business.
In a broader context, Herbert Diess, CEO of Audi’s parent company Volkswagen, assumes direct responsibility for its operations in the country as well.
Eichhorn said the second pillar of its golden decade blueprint lies in its two Chinese partners. Audi has been producing vehicles in China with FAW since the late 1980s, and was a long-time champion in the country’s ever-growing premium vehicle market.
The third pillar is models. The number of Audi models made with FAW will reach 12 by the end of 2021, Eichhorn said. Localized models now account for a majority of its sales in the country.
Last year, it sold 727,358 vehicles, the brand’s best result in more than 30 years of business in China.
Audi expects its annual sales in the country to grow to 1 million by 2023, as its partnership with another Chinese carmaker, SAIC Motor, is to roll out the first vehicle later this year. The model will hit the market in 2022.
Eichhorn said China’s premium vehicle market will grow from around 3 million in 2020 to around 4 million in 2030.
By then, he estimates that 40-45 percent of those vehicles will be new energy. He said Audi will seize
the opportunity to create a new golden decade and return to the No 1 position in China’s premium vehicle market.
“It is a huge transformation and
we would like to be part of it,” Eichhorn said.
Audi is rapidly introducing new models into the country, with six NEV models to be launched this
year, including the domestically produced e-tron SUV.
Audi launched an imported e-tron in China in late 2018. Eichhorn said its localization will be a
milestone of its electrification campaign in China.
He said the e-tron Sportback will follow soon and the e-tron GT, which had its global debut in earlier February, will arrive at the end of the year.
The e-tron GT is built on the J1 platform, which is co-developed by Audi and Porsche.
With the e-tron GT, Audi is demonstrating its plans for shaping the future of mobility. It calls the model the start of a new era and the Gran Turismo of the future.
The model is 4.99 meters in length and 1.96 meters wide, almost the widest model in its segment. The RS variant can accelerate from zero to 100 kilometers per hour in 3.3 seconds.
Eichhorn said these models constitute the first wave of Audi’s electrification campaign. It is preparing waves two and three by collaborating with Volkswagen.
“Wave two will be, and that is the beauty if you are part of the biggest car company in the world, we can use also the MEB platform of the Volkswagen Group. So, the second wave will then include cars on MEB,” he said.
Phase three will be cars built based on the Premium Platform Electric, which is developed by Audi and Porsche.
“You can imagine that when we do it with Porsche, that guarantees its latest technology and absolute high performance and efficiency,” Eichhorn said.
Audi is planning to build PPE electric vehicles in China in a partnership with FAW.
The joint venture, which is located in Changchun, Jilin province, will see the first model roll off the assembly line in 2024. Audi holds the majority stake in the partnership.
Eichhorn said the company is working on updating and developing software as well, including connectivity and digitalization, and autonomous driving.
“We are speeding up and we are transferring all the strengths we have out of the existing business into the latest technology and into the NEV market,” Eichhorn said.
Globally, Audi is aiming to have 30 electrified models on sale by 2025.
Cash culture
Facai, or “good fortune”, is a phrase commonly used to celebrate Lunar New Year. Ancient Chinese Currencies, a long-term exhibition at the National Museum of China, shows coins, ingots and notes from its collection. There are also vessels, figurines and other objects of antiquity that show currency’s various roles in people’s lives over time. The exhibition reflects upon how ancient Chinese valued wealth, how the financial system developed and what role currencies played in exchanges with other civilizations.
9 am-5 pm, closed on Mondays. 16 East Chang’an Avenue, Dongcheng district, Beijing. 010-6511-6400.
Restaging a classic
The Goddess Chang’e Flies to the Moon is a classic Peking Opera piece performed by Mei Lanfang (1894-1961) that premiered in 1915. Jingju Theater Company of Beijing, formerly known as Beijing Peking Opera Theater, has adapted the classic piece with new arrangements and will stage the latest version with the same title, featuring such young actors as Dou Xiaoxuan, Liu Shuoyu and Ma Botong.
7:30 pm, March 5. Chang’an
Grand Theater. No 7, Jianguomennei Dajie, Dongcheng district, Beijing. 400-690-3721.
Orchestrating tradition
Beijing Chinese Orchestra will perform a concert under the baton of conductor Tan Lihua, presenting pieces by Chinese composers, including Zhao Jiping’s traditional orchestral piece, Seek Roots at the Ancient Chinese Scholar Tree, Zheng Yang’s Three Harmonies in the Forbidden City and Wu Houyuan’s Red Plum Capriccio, featuring erhu (two-stringed fiddle) player Deng Jiandong.
7:30 pm, March 5. National Center for the Performing Arts. No 2 West Chang’an Avenue, Xicheng district, Beijing. 010-6655-0000.
Knowing the unknown
Exploring an unknown world is a mission shared by visual artists and scientists. It has become more common in recent years for artists to work with scientists or take advantage of new technologies to renew their work and push the boundaries of art. Zheng Da, a media artist based in Wuhan, Hubei province, has carved out a niche in the field for his installations, which use relatively unsophisticated technologies while engaging viewers to ponder the current human condition. Zheng’s ongoing solo exhibition at Beijing’s Today Art Museum, Unknown Unknowns, presents several major works created since 2016 to inspire people to think about the relationship between humans and technology. The exhibition, which runs until April 5, reflects Zheng’s research of artificial intelligence, AI consciousness and the coexistence of humans and machines, which may emerge as a new “species” in the future. It also reveals Zheng’s love of computer games — a prominent subject in his creations. He believes they’re not only entertainment but also a medium that has changed the way people perceive the boundary between the virtual and real worlds.
10 am-6 pm, Tuesday-Sunday. 32 Baiziwan Lu, Chaoyang district, Beijing. 010-5876-0600.
JOHANNESBURG — If you ask Andy Carr, a 22-year-old South African student, what she would like to do in the future, her answer may amaze you.
“It would be really exciting to open my own practice and help people with their general well-being using traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture,” she says.
Carr is among around 100 students who are learning acupuncture programs offered to bachelor’s and postgraduate students at the University of Johannesburg.
“I have been raised on natural medicine, so I have been exposed to Chinese medicine and acupuncture from a very young age,” she says.
After almost two years of studying acupuncture at university, Carr tries to treat family and friends who need assistance and are not afraid of needles.
“Initially, obviously, there is skepticism when you tell someone that you can treat these conditions using something as simple as just a needle. But, doing it yourself is amazing, because you can actually see the effect that it has on your patients,” says Carr.
She says many South African people have a misunderstanding of acupuncture, regarding it as a painful treatment.
“I always have to convince people that it is not supposed to hurt,” she says, adding that, “When I treat a family member or friend, they will ask ‘Is the needle in yet?’ And I am like, ‘Yes, it is in.’
“I actually spent the whole of my Christmas holiday last year assisting family and friends who had problems,” she says. “My dad injured his back over the holiday, so I treated him. When he woke up the next day, he said it felt like nothing at all was wrong. Normally, he would be in pain for about two to three weeks after the injury.”
In the department of complementary medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, where Carr is studying, there stands the Acupuncture Teaching Clinic and Acupuncture Museum.
The ATC consists of 10 consultation rooms and 20 beds, which serve as the clinical teaching base and research facility where the training of students’ clinical and research skills takes place. It will open to the public and start to receive patients from July 1, 2021.
The museum aims to provide a visual history of acupuncture as a part of traditional Chinese medicine. The history from ancient times to nowadays has been presented and exhibited, including the classics, stories of famous doctors as well as historical items. This museum will also serve as a valuable resource for students like Carr.
Due to COVID-19, Carr and her classmates transitioned to online learning last year.
“When ancient medicine meets modern technologies, the results might be confusing,” says Hu Zijing, a supervisor at the University of Johannesburg.
“After almost one year of online teaching, we see very good results, and we are confident with the process, so the students are leading us to engage in online teaching to ensure the quality of the outcome,” he adds.
“The remote study doesn’t reduce the quality of the teaching, because we are making use of the videos, the recordings and the live sessions of lectures,” Hu says, adding that “the live online teaching sessions are very similar to the contact classes”.
Hu says acupuncture was regulated in 2001 in South Africa. Successful graduates will be able to register with other health profession councils of South Africa to practice acupuncture in the country. He believes South Africa’s rural healthcare could benefit a lot from the procedure.
“Rural health in Africa, and also in South Africa, can be improved by Chinese medicine and acupuncture, especially because of the cost of these medicines,” he says.
Opening an acupuncture clinic “is a way of uplifting the community here in South Africa, specifically in my own home of Melkbosstrand, Cape Town,” says Carr.
When I treat a family member or friend, they will ask ‘Is the needle in yet?’ And I am like, ‘Yes, it is in.’”
Andy Carr, 22-year-old student studying acupuncture in the University of Johannesburg, South Africa
Manchester City keeps on winning in its surge to the title. Brighton keeps on finding creative ways to lose in its plunge toward the relegation zone.
The English Premier League followed a familiar script on Saturday, complete with its latest episode of VAR chaos.
With a scrappy 2-1 victory over West Ham, City extended its winning run to 20 games in all competitions and established a 13-point lead that seems destined to end in the club’s fifth top-flight title in 10 years.
The fact that City’s goals came from its two centerbacks — Ruben Dias and John Stones — highlighted the difficulty the leader had at Etihad Stadium against a fourth-place West Ham side showing its unlikely bid for Champions League qualification is no fluke.
“After 15 minutes, we said, ‘OK, today we are not going to paint something beautiful. Today is the day just to take the three points,’” said City manager Pep Guardiola, whose team was playing in the Champions League in Budapest less than 72 hours earlier.
That’s what happened — as with every game City has played since the middle of December. Dias headed in a wonderful cross from Kevin De Bruyne in the 30th minute for his first goal for the club, only for Michail Antonio to equalize just before halftime for the first goal City has conceded at home in 2½ months.
Stones netted the winner by firing home a Riyad Mahrez pass.
“Some days it doesn’t come off for the forwards, and today me and Ruben chipped in,” Stones said. “That’s part of us being such a good team and the collective. In big games or important games, everyone chips in, maybe sometimes the person you don’t expect.”
Manchester United and Leicester were tied on points as City’s nearest rivals ahead of Sunday games for both teams.
It was also a significant day at the other end of the standings, with Brighton somehow contriving to lose 1-0 at West Bromwich Albion in the most mystifying way possible.
The Seagulls probably thought losing to Crystal Palace 2-1 on Monday after allowing just two touches in its own box would end up being its most unfortunate of defeats this season. They were wrong.
Five days later, Graham Potter’s side missed two penalties and also saw a goal from a freekick ruled out because of the incompetence of referee Lee Mason amid farcical scenes at The Hawthorns.
Forbes has released its annual list of the world’s richest sports enterprises, and their diversification certainly reflects the reality of the pandemic era.
Faced with empty stadia, dwindling merchandising revenues and scheduling uncertainties, the Forbes list shows four of the Big Five hold multiple franchises (with the notable exception of Jerry Jones, who owns the most valuable team on the planet, the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys), while spanning a variety of sports, leagues ... and continents.
In ascending rank, they are:
5. Yankee Global Enterprises: $6.39 billion
Primary properties are MLB’s New York Yankees, YES Television Network, Major League Soccer’s New York City FC and the Triple A baseball Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.
The Yankees franchise is worth an estimated $5 billion and has won a record 27 World Series titles. The group also owns 20 percent of the YES Network, which is worth around $875 million and is considered one of the top regional sports networks in the world.
4. Fenway Sports Group: $6.6 billion
Primary properties are MLB’s
Boston Red Sox, Liverpool of soccer’s English Premier League, the New England Sports Network, Roush-Fenway Racing and Fenway Sports Management.
The Red Sox franchise is valued at $3.3 billion, while NESN, which broadcasts the Red Sox and Boston Bruins NHL games, comes in at $650 million. The third jewel in this holding is Liverpool, which is worth nearly $2.2 billion.
The Red Sox have won nine World Series titles, Liverpool has 19 English top-flight championships and six Champions League/European Cup titles, while Roush-Fenway has captured two NASCAR Cup crowns. 3. Jerry Jones: $6.98 billion Primary properties: Dallas Cowboys, CompLexity Gaming
Jones might be America’s savviest business mogul. The Cowboys, also known as “America’s Team”, are the world’s most valuable sports franchise, with a net worth of $5.7 billion. The team hasn’t won a Super Bowl since 1996 but is still immensely popular — even in nontraditional markets like Europe and Latin America.
Another successful investment is Legends, a food, beverage, retail and stadium operations company co-owned by Jones and Yankee Global Enterprises.
CompLexity Gaming is an e-sports organization with teams in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Fortnite, Apex Legends, FIFA, EA Madden, Magic: The Gathering Arena, Hearthstone, and Valorant.
2. Kroenke Sports & Entertainment: $8.73 billion
Primary properties: NFL’s Los Angeles Rams, NBA’s Denver Nuggets, NHL’s Colorado Avalanche, EPL’s Arsenal, Major League Soccer’s Colorado Rapids, Altitude Sports & Entertainment, Los Angeles Gladiators e-sports team.
Stan Kroenke owns a staggering array of franchises across the world’s top leagues — although the Nuggets and Avalanche are technically owned by his wife, Ann, because NFL rules prevent team owners from having multiple franchises in the same market (Denver). 1. Liberty Media: $13 billion Primary properties: Formula 1 Racing, MLB’s Atlanta Braves, Drone Racing League, Ball Arena.
Controlled by billionaire John Malone, who was the CEO of cable company TCI, Liberty Media is estimated to be the largest private landowner in the US, with holdings of over 8,900 square kilometers — twice the size of the state of Rhode Island.
Formula 1 motor racing is extremely popular worldwide, and the Braves are perennial contenders in baseball’s National League.