What's new
Antengene recently held an R&D Day event, during which it elaborated on its in-house and in-licensed pipelines.
Comments
Selinexor XPO1 inhibitor to start commercialization in Asia-Pacific soon; watch use of Selinexor for new indications. Antengene has filed an application for marketing selinexor in multiple Asia-Pacific countries and regions. In July 2021, the South Korea Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) approved the use of selinexor for the treatment of refractory and relapsed multiple myeloma (RRMM) and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLB-CL), and we expect the medicine to hit the market in South Korea in the near future. Domestic clinical trial on selinexor for NK/T-cell lymphoma led by Antengene already achieved encouraging results (with complete response of 35.3% and overall response rate of 52.9% among 17 subjects). The firm and its partner Karypharm will likely announce the outcome of SIENDO Phase-III study of selinexor for the maintenance treatment of endometrial cancer around start-2022. We believe selinexor may be approved for marketing in multiple Asia-Pacific markets in 2021–1H22, and Antengene plans to build a 200-person team by end-2021 to support the drug’s commercialization.
Clinical trials on in-licensed medicines progressing smoothly. The administration of five doses of ATG-017 (ERK1/2 inhibitor) in Australia Phase-I clinical trial was completed, and Antengene expects to explore the combination therapy of ATG-017 and KRAS inhibitor. ATG-101 clinical trial reported encouraging results, and initial antitumor activities were detected in the PD-L1 drug resistance and refractory models. ATG-101 in currently in Phase-I clinical trial in the US and Australia, and the firm expects to see RK/PD and safety data in 2022.
Proprietary R&D team exploring new drug targets. In addition to in- licensing, Antengene has also been strengthening its own capability to develop new drug targets for tumor treatment. It has established a solid foothold in early drug discovery for small-molecule medicines, antibodies and antibody-drug conjugates (ADC). The firm had announced early-stage R&D on new targets such as Axl-Mer, LILBR protein and CD24 as of November 2021, and it is also exploring next-generation ADC technology. Antengene plans to build a R&D team comprising 200–300 scientists in 3– 5 years, and to file 2-3 IND applications per year.
Valuation and recommendation
We leave our 2021 and 2022 earnings forecasts unchanged. We maintain OUTPERFORM and DCF-based TP of HK$18.00, offering 41.3% upside.
Risks
Clinical trials, sales, and new medicine prices disappoint.