Sino Biopharmaceutical Is Pivoting to Oncology but Needs More Innovation to Offset Low Upside

Sino Biopharmaceutical, or SBP, was initially anchored in hepatitis medicines with its flagship drug Tianqing Ganmei, which was approved in 2005 in China. Since the introduction of China’s volume-based procurement, or VBP, policy in 2018, which pushed down Sino Bio’s generic drug pricing by 50%-70% in exchange for bulk volume purchases using national public healthcare funds for hospitals, the company has increased its research and development spending to develop a more innovative pipeline. As a result, SBP pivoted toward an oncology portfolio and created Focus V (anlotinib) as its core innovative drug that was approved in 2018. Focus V is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor that is an oral therapy used to treat various cancers by blocking the tyrosine kinase enzymes that signal cancer cells to grow and divide. While still considered innovative, TKIs are now being replaced by antibody-drug conjugates and monoclonal antibodies as first-line treatments for many types of cancers. In addition, Focus V competes in a crowded industry within China and globally, having very little market share outside of China.