Everest Medicines Files for Hong Kong IPO Following $310M Series C Financing and Advances in Eight Pipeline Candidates

VCBeat learned that on July 19, 2020, Everest Medicines (Everest Medicines Limited) submitted its listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

As a company driving the development of China’s healthcare industry through license-in partnerships, Everest Medicines has established a mature pipeline, with four lead candidates currently in Phase III or pivotal clinical trials in China.

Everest Medicines is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative drugs, dedicated to addressing unmet medical needs in China and other Asian markets. Its product pipeline covers four major therapeutic areas: oncology, immunological diseases, infectious diseases, and cardiorenal diseases, all of which present significant unmet clinical needs and market potential in the Asia-Pacific region. Each product in the pipeline has a sales potential of billions of RMB in the Chinese market alone.Just over a month ago, Everest Medicines announced the completion of a financing round led bywith China Renaissance as the exclusive financial advisor$310 million in Series C financing.

Everest Medicines, incubated under the leadership of Qiao Capital, has assembled a global team of top-tier talent in business development (BD), clinical registration and development, product commercialization, and capital operations. The management team possesses deep expertise and extensive experience in high-quality clinical development, regulatory affairs, chemistry, manufacturing and controls (CMC), business development, and operations, both domestically and internationally. Within less than three years since its inception, the company’s achievements in advancing its clinical pipeline and commercializing products, coupled with its strong reception in global capital markets, have amply demonstrated the team’s robust execution capabilities and profound industry insight.

In previous financing news, Everest Medicines had already showcased its eight drug pipelines built through license-in agreements.Among them, multiple drug candidates have entered the late stages of clinical development, covering therapeutic areas including oncology, autoimmune diseases, cardiorenal diseases, and infectious diseases.Among them, the four drugs with the most advanced progress have already initiated Phase III/key clinical trials in China.

TrodelvyTM（Sacituzumab govitecan-hziy）It is a first-in-class anti-Trop-2 antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) that has been approved in the United States for the treatment of patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (mTNBC) who have received at least two prior therapies. In April 2020, Everest Medicines obtained approval from Chinese authorities to conduct clinical trials of sacituzumab govitecan and plans to initiate clinical development programs for multiple solid tumor indications.

Xerava™ (Eravacycline)It is a novel, fully synthetic, broad-spectrum tetracycline-class parenteral antibiotic for injection, demonstrating extensive in vitro antibacterial activity against multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria and other common resistant pathogens in China. Eravacycline has been approved in the United States and Europe for the treatment of patients with complicated intra-abdominal infections (cIAI), and was approved in Singapore in April 2020. Everest Medicines is currently conducting Phase III clinical trials in China for this indication to support regulatory approval.

Etrasimodis a potential best-in-class oral S1P receptor modulator. Everest Medicines is conducting multicenter Phase III clinical trials for ulcerative colitis in China and South Korea.

TaniborbactamIt is a potential best-in-class injectable cyclic boronate compound that simultaneously inhibits serine and metallo-β-lactamases. Everest Medicines and its partner, Venatorx Pharmaceuticals, are currently jointly conducting a global Phase III clinical trial in patients with complicated urinary tract infections (cUTI).

Ralinepag XRIt is a potential best-in-class oral sustained-release IP receptor agonist, primarily indicated for the treatment of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Everest Medicines is collaborating with its partner, United Therapeutics, to conduct a global Phase III clinical trial in patients with PAH.

NefeconIt is a potential first-in-class innovative product for IgA nephropathy. In December 2019, Everest Medicines received approval for its clinical trial application for IgA nephropathy. Everest Medicines will conduct the global Phase III clinical trial in collaboration with its partner, Calliditas Therapeutics.

FGF401It is a potential first-in-class, ATP-competitive, reversibly covalent FGFR4 inhibitor. Everest Medicines has obtained global commercial rights to the drug from Novartis. In March 2020, its clinical trial application for Phase Ib/II studies in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma in China was approved.

SPR206It is a potential best-in-class novel polymyxin derivative designed to reduce the nephrotoxicity associated with clinically used polymyxin B and colistin.

As extensive clinical trials have been conducted, Everest Medicines’ losses have continued to rise in recent years. Based on the performance in the first quarter of 2020, the company’s loss for the full year 2020 is expected to far exceed those of previous years. Financial reports show that Everest Medicines incurred a loss of RMB 176 million for the full year 2019, while its loss in the first quarter of 2020 alone exceeded RMB 150 million, nearly reaching the total loss for all of 2019. However, considering that Everest Medicines has just completed a USD 310 million Series C financing round, its cash reserves are sufficient to support its development over the next few years.

Moreover, given that several lead products have already entered Phase III/key clinical trials in China, the market launch and profitability of Everest Medicines’ products appear to be just around the corner.

The primary use of proceeds from this IPO also indicates that Everest Medicines will focus its business development in the near term on R&D for its existing product pipeline, while remaining attentive to new product opportunities and continuing to advance China’s healthcare industry through license-in arrangements.