[Click eStock] "AprilBio, Expanding New Target Needs... Reevaluation of Lundbeck Technology Transfer"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] NH Investment & Securities analyzed on the 16th that AprilBio, which has already made a deal with the global company Lundbeck amid increasing demand for new autoimmune disease targets, can be re-evaluated at the turning point of the bio sector.

As patents for numerous autoimmune disease blockbuster drugs begin to expire, the demand from big pharma for discovering new targets is gradually expanding. New autoimmune targets are classified into cytokines, chemokines, and other proteins. AprilBio is developing long-acting recombinant proteins using differentiated antibody libraries and albumin binder technology, and holds six autoimmune candidate substances.

In October last year, AprilBio licensed APB-A1 to the Danish global pharmaceutical company Lundbeck. Lundbeck strengthened its autoimmune division through this deal. In the Q3 conference call this year, Lundbeck emphasized the smooth progress of the US Phase 1 trial and mentioned the potential for various indications, introducing it as one of the four major substances. Sanofi, BMS, Novartis, and Biogen are also developing autoimmune drugs targeting the same target.

Park Byung-guk, a researcher at NH Investment & Securities, explained, "Despite being a deal with an upfront payment of 15 million dollars, it was not properly evaluated due to the difficult market environment and because it was a pre-IPO deal," adding, "It is a similar history to HanAll Biopharma, which showed high returns after Daewoong’s acquisition of shares and the licensing of autoimmune disease substances to Immunovant." He continued, "It is possible to have sufficient re-evaluation at the turning point of the bio sector."

Researcher Park said, "AprilBio holds 70 billion KRW in cash, and considering annual expenditures of about 20 billion KRW, it can sustain its business for three years without additional capital increases," adding, "In an environment where securing cash is difficult, the attractiveness of companies holding cash is increasing."

He also said, "A virtuous cycle is possible through continuous technology transfers," and added, "After the results with Lundbeck and Yuhan Corporation, the next candidate for technology transfer is APB-R3, a substance that attaches IL-18BP, which neutralizes the inflammation-inducing factor IL-18, to SAFA, and it has been approved for Phase 1 in Australia." He further noted, "IL-18 is also a target developed by big pharma such as GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Novartis in autoimmune diseases."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.