With a frozen IPO market, investors are tightening their belts and figuring out where to hedge their bets. In Asia, that means having different strategies for different countries while keeping a global mindset, venture capital (VC) investors said during the Asia Bio Partnering Forum in Singapore on April 25.

As of Jan. 31, 2024, there were more than 300 CAR T trials registered in China, surpassing the U.S. and becoming the country with the most CAR T therapy clinical trials. Among them, CD19 is the most frequently studied target, according to BioWorld and Cortellis. The rapid evolution of CAR T-cell therapies in China has escalated over the past decade from the start of the first clinical trials in 2013 to the country becoming an established host for CAR T-cell-related trials by 2017, according to Yongxian Hu and researchers from Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China. Chinese cell therapy companies – backed by $2.37 billion in funding in 2021 – have since significantly increased basic research and trial output for CAR Ts, which was welcomed by large patient demand.

China’s CAR T market is expected to grow from $72 million in 2022 to $342 million over the next decade. There are currently more than 400 CAR T therapies in the pipeline in China, and most of these are being developed by specialized Chinese biotechs. Research by Clarivate plc, BioWorld’s parent company, indicates that a notable proportion of CAR T-cell therapies in late-phase development in China are being developed through strategic partnerships and joint ventures between multinational corporations and domestic companies, including Johnson & Johnson and Nanjing Legend Biotech Corp., Juno Therapeutics Inc. and Wuxi Apptec Co. Ltd., and CASI Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Juventas Cell Therapy Ltd.

The process of manufacturing autologous T-cell therapies is technically challenging when compared with other oncology drugs, making the overall cost of developing CAR T therapies significantly higher. A challenging reimbursement environment for drugs listed on China’s National Reimbursement Drug List also means that most patients will have to pay out of pocket to access CAR T therapies. Taken together, complex logistics – production, manufacturing and supply chain – and complicated administration requirements are key bottlenecks that inflate the input costs involved in developing these specialized treatment options.

Antibody-drug conjugates are the hot spot for deals in Asia, but investors questioned whether oncology is really the place to be, during the Asia Bio Partnering Forum in Singapore April 24 to 25.

With a frozen IPO market, investors are tightening their belts and figuring out where to hedge their bets. In Asia, that means having different strategies for different countries while keeping a global mindset, venture capital (VC) investors said during the Asia Bio Partnering Forum in Singapore on April 25.

The process of manufacturing autologous T-cell therapies is technically challenging when compared with other oncology drugs, making the overall cost of developing CAR T therapies significantly higher. A challenging reimbursement environment for drugs listed on China’s National Reimbursement Drug List also means that most patients will have to pay out of pocket to access CAR T therapies. Taken together, complex logistics – production, manufacturing and supply chain – and complicated administration requirements are key bottlenecks that inflate the input costs involved in developing these specialized treatment options.