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fosun kite's wholly-owned acquisition has become a hot topic in the biopharmaceutical industry recently.

on september 13, fosun pharma announced that its holding subsidiary fosun pharmaceutical industry plans to invest us$27 million in cash to acquire 50% of fosun kite's equity held by kite pharma of the united states.fosun pharma will hold 100% of the equity of fosun kite.fosun pharma has obtained the exclusive development, production and commercialization rights of akilencel injection in the field of cancer in china, as well as the rights to another car-t product under development. fosun kite will be renamed fosun kerry.

fosun kite was originally established as a joint venture between fosun pharma and kite pharma of the united states, with each party holding 50% of the shares. the purpose of establishing the company is to jointly develop and commercialize car-t products. in june 2021, fosun kite's akilencel injection was approved for marketing, becoming china's first car-t. by the end of 2023, akilencel injection was used by about 700 people. howeverfor many years, several car-t products in china have not been included in medical insurance., which has a certain impact on the promotion and sales of car-t products.

after the equity transfer, akilencel injection will be completely localized, which may help reduce the production cost and market price of car-t products. in addition, on august 27, the preliminary list of the 2024 national medical insurance catalogue was announced.the car-t products of fosun kite, innovent biologics, heyuan biopharma and car-t biosciences were all shortlisted.akilenbine injection once again has hope of being included in medical insurance.

foreign investment withdraws, competition becomes fierce

after fosun acquires kite's shares, it will also invest $10 million to increase the capital of fosun kite, which makes the valuation of this car-t subsidiary reach $64 million. kite will mainly focus on the us, europe and japan markets.and continue to maintain a long-term strategic partnership with the newly renamed fosun kerry.currently, the clinical trial application for the third indication of akilencel injection has been approved.

in addition, fosun kairui can continue to develop the car-t products under development authorized by kitebrexu-cel, a car-t cell therapy product targeting cd19, which has been approved in the united states and the european union.

the two parties did not clearly state the background of the withdrawal of foreign capital, but judging from fosun kite's past performance, the sales of akilencel injection were not as hot as expected, which may be one of the reasons.

the revenue of akilencel injection in 2023 is about 242 million yuan.ranked first in sales among all domestic car-t products.even so, akilenbine injection still failed to live up to the expectations of the outside world for car-t. the development of cell gene therapy drugs is difficult and the concept is very advanced. the failure of the first car-t product will inevitably affect the enthusiasm of capital and the industry.

high prices have always been a label for car-t drugs. akilenbine injection costs 1.2 million yuan per course of treatment. a senior person in charge of car-t research and development admitted to the health bureau that due to the limitations of cell immunotherapy, it is impossible to mass produce, the production capacity is low and the product cost remains high. it is precisely because of the technical barriers that the person predictsthere will not be a "herd rush" situation in china's car-t market, and only 2-3 companies will be able to win in the market in the end.

six products compete, entering the medical insurance is the key

fosun kite has been cooperating with commercial insurance companies, including more than 110 urban welfare insurance projects and more than 80 commercial health insurance projects. in addition, fosun kite has pioneered the "payment plan based on efficacy value" for akilencel injection in china.eligible patients who fail to achieve "complete remission" after taking the drug will receive a refund of up to 600,000 yuan.

however, the high price of car-t products has not been alleviated. especially with more and more competitors in the current car-t market, six car-t products from fosun kite, innovent biologics, reindeer biopharmaceuticals, car-science, heyuan biopharmaceuticals and legend biotech have been approved for marketing.except for legend biotech, whose retail price has not yet been announced, the other five models are priced around one million yuan.in the context of increasingly fierce competition, lowering prices to enter the medical insurance catalogue is the best solution.

fosun's akilencel injection has established a first-mover channel advantage and a nationwide sales network. according to the financial report, fosun kite has established more than 170 high-standard treatment centers in 28 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities across the country. at this year's fosun pharma annual meeting,the company's chairman, wu yifang, made it clear that "car-t should be included in medical insurance."

in march this year, news came from india and brazil that the cost of a single treatment of car-t products developed locally in the two countries is only 30,000 to 40,000 us dollars, about 200,000 to 300,000 rmb, only one-tenth of the price in europe and the united states, breaking the saying that "car-t must be sky-high". if chinese car-t products can be priced at the same level as india and brazil, medical insurance should be very acceptable.

the newly renamed fosun kairui will definitely work hard to develop cat-r in china. according to the company's plan,in the future, we will strive to promote car-t cell therapy products to benefit more patients, build a car-t ecosystem, and continue to lead the development and upgrading of the industry.

written by xiaomi

editor: jiang yunjiating

operation｜han jinrui

illustration｜visual china