SHANGHAI, Nov. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — JW Therapeutics (stock code: 2126.HK), a leading clinical stage cell therapy company in China that focuses on developing, manufacturing and commercializing breakthrough cell-based immunotherapies for hematological cancers and solid tumors, today celebrates the initial public offering (IPO) on the Main Board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited.
“Listing on HKEX marks a very important milestone for JW Therapeutics,” said Dr. James Li, Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of JW Therapeutics. “The company was founded with a vision to develop breakthrough cell-based therapies to transform the treatment of cancer for Chinese patients. With cutting-edge technology platform and research capabilities, we look forward to continuing to invest in driving the full-scale commercialization of our core product candidates, advancing and expanding our pipelines, and enhancing our manufacturing and supply chain through innovation and scale.”
Co-founded by Juno Therapeutics and Wuxi AppTec in 2016, JW Therapeutics is a leader in China for the development of cell-based immunotherapy, a field which represents a paradigm shift and the latest advancement in the treatment of cancer. Cell-based immunotherapies, including Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Immunotherapy (“CAR-T”) treatments, is an innovative treatment method that uses human immune cells to fight against cancer. Supported by multiple clinical studies, cell-based immunotherapies could lead to long-lasting remissions of B-cell lymphomas and leukemia which are refractory to other treatments.
JW Therapeutics has built a comprehensive and differentiated cell-based immunotherapy pipeline, covering both hematological cancers and solid tumors. Relmacabtagene autoleucel (“relma-cel”), its lead product, is an anti-CD19 CAR-T therapy for third-line treatment for relapsed or refractory (“r/r”) B-cell lymphoma. The New Drug Application (NDA) for relma-cel as a third-line treatment for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (“DLBCL”) was accepted for review by China’s National Medical Products Administration (“NMPA”) in June 2020 and was granted priority review status in September 2020. Moreover, the NMPA also granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation for relma-cel as a treatment for follicular lymphoma. Relma-cel is expected to be the first CAR-T therapy to be approved as a Category 1 biologics product in China.
In addition to being a leader in hematological cancer treatments in China, leveraging the integrated cell therapy platform to expand into the solid tumor market represents a key part of the future growth strategies for JW Therapeutics. The company has obtained access to the ARTEMIS® technology platform from Eureka Therapeutics. Through partnership agreement with Lyell Immunopharma (“Lyell”), the company plans to combine Lyell’s technology with the ARTEMIS® technology platform to create a next-generation autologous cell therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma (“HCC”).
While there are currently no approved CAR-T product in China, with the potential launch of new products, the size of the China CAR-T market is expected to be RMB24.3 billion by 2030, according to Frost & Sullivan. The growth will be primarily driven by the increasing number of patients, improving affordability and favorable regulatory environment.
About JW Therapeutics
Co-founded by Juno Therapeutics and Wuxi AppTec, JW Therapeutics is a leading clinical and pre-clinical stage cell therapy company in China with an integrated platform focusing on developing, manufacturing and commercializing breakthrough cell-based immunotherapies for hematological cancers and solid tumors. JW Therapeutics’ vision is to develop innovative cell therapies for the China market to transform the treatment of cancer for Chinese patients. The company has built a comprehensive and differentiated cell therapy pipeline covering both hematological cancers and solid tumors. Its lead product, Relma-cel, an anti-CD19 CAR-T therapy for relapsed or refractory (“r/r”) B-cell lymphoma, is expected to be the first CAR-T therapy to be approved as a Category 1 biologics product in China.
For more information, please visit www.jwtherapeutics.com.
Media Contact
Brunswick Group
JWTherapeutics@brunswickgroup.com
Zhou Yi
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Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on management’s current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including estimates of revenues, operating margins, capital expenditures, cash, other financial metrics, expected legal, arbitration, political, regulatory or clinical results or practices, customer and prescriber patterns or practices, reimbursement activities and outcomes and other such estimates and results. Forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties, including those discussed below and more fully described in the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (HKEx) reports filed by the Company. Unless otherwise noted, the Company is providing this information as of Oct 28th, 2020, and expressly disclaims any duty to update information contained in this news release.
No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed and actual results may differ materially from those we project. Discovery or identification of new product candidates or development of new indications for existing products cannot be guaranteed and movement from concept to product is uncertain; consequently, there can be no guarantee that any particular product candidate or development of a new indication for an existing product will be successful and become a commercial product. Further, preclinical results do not guarantee safe and effective performance of product candidates in humans. The complexity of the human body cannot be perfectly, or sometimes, even adequately modeled by computer or cell culture systems or animal models. The length of time that it takes for us to complete clinical trials and obtain regulatory approval for product marketing has in the past varied and we expect similar variability in the future. We develop product candidates internally and through licensing collaborations, partnerships and joint ventures. Product candidates that are derived from relationships may be subject to disputes between the parties or may prove to be not as effective or as safe as we may have believed at the time of entering into such relationship. Also, we or others could identify safety, side effects or manufacturing problems with our products after they are on the market. Our business may be impacted by government investigations, litigation and products liability claims, and certain compliance risks, even sanctions from disputable market activities. We depend on third parties for a significant portion of our manufacturing capacity for the supply of certain of our current and future products and limits on supply may constrain sales of certain of our current products and product candidate development.
In addition, sales of our products are affected by the reimbursement policies imposed by third-party payors, including governments, private insurance plans and managed care providers and may be affected by regulatory, clinical and guideline developments and domestic and international trends toward managed care and healthcare cost containment as well as legislation affecting pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement. Government and others’ regulations and reimbursement policies may affect the development, usage and pricing of our products. In addition, we compete with other companies with respect to some of our marketed products as well as for the discovery and development of new products. We believe that some of our newer products, product candidates or new indications for existing products, may face competition when and as they are approved and marketed. Our products may compete against products that have lower prices, established reimbursement, superior performance, are easier to administer, or that are otherwise competitive with our products. In addition, while we routinely obtain patents for our products and technology, the protection offered by our patents and patent applications may be challenged, invalidated or circumvented by our competitors and there can be no guarantee of our ability to obtain or maintain patent protection for our products or product candidates. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to produce commercially successful products or maintain the commercial success of our existing products. Our stock price may be affected by actual or perceived market opportunity, competitive position, and success or failure of our products or product candidates. Further, the discovery of significant problems with a product similar to one of our products that implicate an entire class of products could have a material adverse effect on sales of the affected products and on our business and results of operations. Our efforts to integrate the operations of companies we have acquired may not be successful. We may experience difficulties, delays or unexpected costs and not achieve anticipated benefits and savings from our ongoing restructuring plan. Our business performance could affect or limit the ability of our board of directors to declare a dividend or their ability to pay a dividend or repurchase our common stock.
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