From Investor to Founder: Why Zhao Chunlin Chose to Re-enter the Arena to Tackle the Billion-Dollar Ophthalmic Gene Therapy Market

In the biopharmaceutical field, there has never been a shortage of entrepreneurs with excellent backgrounds. As scientists and clinicians increasingly embark on entrepreneurial journeys, more and more investors are also entering the fray to start their own ventures.

Due to the ability to observe the entire medical industry, investors tend to choose tracks that can address unmet or suboptimal clinical needs when starting businesses. In their view, promising therapeutic technologies not only bring hope to patients but also provide enterprises with core competitiveness.

Anlong is such a company. Its chairman and CEO, Zhao Chunlin, comes from an investment background. With a keen sense of the market, he has determined that Anlong will focus on the development and production of gene therapy drugs in the ophthalmology field.

Zhao Chunlin said that entrepreneurship is a lifelong career for him.

The establishment of Anlong marks his fourth venture."Many people say I like to折腾, from abroad to China, from scientific research to commercialization, from entrepreneurship to investment and back to entrepreneurship, the things I have been doing keep changing back and forth," said Zhao Chunlin.

Looking back on his career, Zhao Chunlin's roles have primarily shifted between being an investor and an entrepreneur. As an investor, he is the founder of Anlong Fund, and has served as Managing Director of Guoke Jiahé and Partner at Kangqiao Capital. He has participated in four funds and led the establishment of two of them, raising over 400 million US dollars. He has invested in well-known companies such as Innovent Biologics, I-Mab Biopharma, and Connect Biopharmaceuticals.

As an entrepreneur, he has been closely tied to the founding of Etang.com and Anlong Gene, while Longmaide and Anlong Biotech were solely established by him. To date, Longmaide has been successfully sold to Taiwan's Cold Spring Harbor company, with its valuation increasing 25-fold in just four years. Anlong Gene has also become a unicorn enterprise in the field of early cancer screening. With such extensive experience, the term "entrepreneurship" is no stranger to Zhao Chunlin. While many still view it as a nine-to-one survival endeavor, he chooses to maintain a calm mindset and continues to "keep pushing forward."

Before founding Anlong Bio, Zhao Chunlin's main work at Anlong Fund was to help startups solve problems related to development direction, investment and financing, and recruitment, and he would also participate in the operation of the enterprises. However, after working in the investment industry for a long time, Zhao Chunlin felt a sense of crisis:The investor's life is too comfortable, and the familiar work makes him feel no challenge.

During this period, he realized two things: one was that he wanted to step out of his comfort zone and take on more challenging tasks; the other was that he saw a once-in-a-century opportunity in China’s life sciences field. At Anlong Fund, he supported the rise of a group of star pharmaceutical companies in China. "Every day I encourage entrepreneurs to seize this great opportunity, but as I watch them grow, I feel the itch myself. Many people have asked me why I don’t choose to start my own business. Now, looking at it, the timing is ripe."

Zhao Chunlin hoped that he could fully devote himself to starting a business again, and by taking the helm, cultivate it into a leading pharmaceutical enterprise in China. Thus, Anlong was born.

Unlike scientists who drive innovation and entrepreneurship by deeply cultivating technology fields, Zhao Chunlin's former identity as an investor gives him a unique perspective in determining the development direction of Anlong Bio. When selecting technology platforms, he prefers to analyze from a commercial or market perspective, choosing therapies or tracks with promising prospects. Gene therapy, which was once highly anticipated by the industry, has thus become the company’s main development focus.

Adeno-associated virus (AAV) therapeutic approaches are among the most clinically promising treatment technologies in gene therapy. As a non-pathogenic virus, AAV carries a minimal risk of triggering pathogenic mutations. Especially within the enclosed and immune-privileged environment of the eye, AAV-based drugs have minimal systemic effects and high safety, presenting clear application potential in the treatment of ocular diseases. This led Zhao Chunlin to recognize the potential and commercial value of AAV gene therapy, with wet age-related macular degeneration becoming Anlong's preferred indication.

Currently, wet age-related macular degeneration has become the third leading cause of blindness globally after glaucoma and cataracts, with the number of patients worldwide continuously rising. The main treatment for wet age-related macular degeneration is anti-VEGF therapy. Globally, ranibizumab, aflibercept, and brolucizumab belong to anti-VEGF therapies and have become the standard treatments for wet age-related macular degeneration internationally. In China, there are also related products on the market that have been included in the National Reimbursement Drug List.

Although there are already established therapies on the market,Anti-VEGF therapy also has its limitations. This therapy requires frequent and regular intravitreal injections, with a dosing frequency of once every 1 to 3 months, which leads to a poor patient experience, significantly reduces patient compliance, and increases treatment risks.In addition,Although intravitreal injection solves the problem of inconvenient intravitreal injection, it tends to cause inflammation.The treatment methods and drug delivery routes for wet macular degeneration are in urgent need of innovation.

Anlong's AnLong001 not only utilizes AAV gene therapy but also adopts the most advanced suprachoroidal injection method currently available.AAV vector enables AnLong001 to use the retina as a bioreactor for the continuous and stable expression of anti-VEGF molecules, minimizing the occurrence of symptoms in patients, while the suprachoroidal injection method can reduce the occurrence of side effects such as inflammation.

Currently, AnLong001 has entered the toxicology experiment phase. From the current progress, this product is able to inhibit retinal degeneration and damage in the eye as well as the formation of choroidal neovascularization, while no significant pathological changes were observed in animal experiments.

Globally, the gene therapy for wet age-related macular degeneration that has progressed the furthest is RGX-314, co-developed by Abbvie and Regenxbio, which has entered Phase III clinical trials. In China, several companies have entered this field, with Anlong being at the forefront and having significant advantages in all aspects.

With a technologically leading product, Zhao Chunlin believes that it is not enough. In his view, the competitive landscape of AAV gene therapy in the wet age-related macular degeneration field will present a trend similar to that of PD-1 in the future. "If so many companies in China start working on this in the future, this field will definitely see intense price competition."

Facing the future market competition, Anlong is well prepared.Anlong Boasts Leading AAV Large-Scale Production Capacity – Sf9 Suspension Cell Production SystemIt can stabilize the yield of the original solution at 1-5E+14 vg/L. The existing GMP workshop has completed production at 200L, with a capacity reaching 2E+16vg/200 liters/batch. Zhao Chunlin introduced that the cost of the Sf9 production system is only one-tenth of other systems.Anlong001 hopes to enter the medical insurance system after its market launch, and its Sf9 insect cell production capacity will provide an absolute price advantage in market competition.

Innovations in drug delivery methods, combined with control over production capacity and costs, Anlong has carved out a differentiated path in China's gene therapy sector.

In the field of ophthalmic treatment, Anlong has laid out 4 product pipelines.Anlong001 will file an IND application by the end of 2022, while other products will continue to focus on dry age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy macular edema, and optogenetic proteins.

In addition to focusing on gene therapy, Anlong has also launched the development of a small nucleic acid drug technology platform. In 2021, Anlong reached a strategic cooperation agreement with Kairun Technology. Based on their respective strengths, the two parties will collaborate to develop a novel siRNA Category 1 drug for treating patients with chronic HBV infection. Anlong is responsible for early-stage research and development, while Kairun Technology handles clinical trials and later market sales. In the future, Anlong will continue to introduce new technology platforms to expand its product pipeline.

In Zhao Chunlin's view, BD cooperation will become one of Anlong's development strategies in the future, with both domestic and international pharmaceutical giants and innovative Biotech companies under consideration. The perspective of an investor gives Zhao Chunlin a higher level of inclusiveness, and as long as there are complementary advantages, he is willing to give it a try.

Zha Chunlin hopes that Anlong can become a leading gene therapy enterprise in China. Facing the upcoming market competition, he is full of confidence, "Decisive execution, a calm mindset, and long-term vision will provide continuous momentum for Anlong's future development."