C-Bridge helps Korea's Samsung Bioepis with China expansion

The private equity firm will establish a new entity, AffaMed Therapeutics, which will collaborate with Samsung Bioepis in areas such as clinical development, regulatory registration and commercialization in China. Its investment comprises an upfront payment to the Korean company as well as the promise of ongoing royalties based on sales.

The agreement covers multiple biosimilar candidates developed by Samsung Bioepis – drugs with nearly identical effects to medications already on the market. These include third-wave biosimilars, which are mainly complex monoclonal antibodies or antibody fragments scheduled to come off patent in the next few years. Samsung Bioepis is working on versions of treatments that address age-related vision loss, blood disease, and breast cancer.

The company, which was established in 2012, currently has four biosimilars approved and marketed across Europe and one in the US. Another has been approved by the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA). Over 10,000 patients globally are being treated using Samsung Bioepis biosimilars, with over six million doses administered. Four more drugs are undergoing clinical trials.

“We want to play an important role in widening access to high-quality healthcare for patients throughout China. C-Bridge is the right partner for this mission as evidenced in its exceptional track record of successfully turning portfolio companies like AffaMed Therapeutics into leading biopharmaceutical companies in China and beyond,” said Christopher Hansung Ko, president and CEO of Samsung Bioepis, in a statement.

C-Bridge is currently raising its third China healthcare fund, which focuses on pharmaceutical, medical technology and healthcare services companies with proven products and technologies. A first close of $400 million came last July and then the GP set a hard cap of $800 million. Total assets under management exceed $1.8 billion.

The firm devotes a significant amount of time to identifying intellectual property outside of China that can be monetized in the country. Most of these efforts are focused on the US, with senior executives based in New York, Boston, and San Diego.

Biosimilars feature strongly in the pipelines of multiple Chinese biotech players. When Innovent Biologics became the fourth pre-revenue biotech company to list in Hong Kong last year, three of the four drugs in its portfolio closest to monetization were biosimilars. Shanghai Henlius Biotech, which filed for an IPO in the territory in December, is in a similar position

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• Topics
• Greater China
• North Asia
• Healthcare
• Expansion
• China
• South Korea
• C-Bridge Capital
• Pharmaceuticals
• Growth capital