5 Phase III clinical drugs under research took the lead among the domestic ophthalmology pharmaceutical companies
HONG KONG, March 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — The Chinese ophthalmology platform company, Ocumension Therapeutics ("Ocumension" or the "Company", together with its subsidiaries, the "Group" ), (stock code: 1477.HK), announced its annual results for the year ended 31 December 2020 today.
Ocumension Therapeutics handed over its first brilliant annual report since its listing. In 2020, the company’s total revenue was RMB 13.096 million, an increase of 6892.63% over the same period last year; R&D expenses amounted to RMB 355 million, as a number of products entered the middle and later stages of clinical trials, R&D investment will continue to grow rapidly. The company recorded adjusted loss and total comprehensive expenses of RMB277 million, primarily attributable to the one off listing expenses of RMB41.1 million as well as an increase in selling and marketing expenses establishing our commercialization infrastructure. The company has RMB 2,052 million cash on its account (excluding the funds raised from the placement in January 2021), and the funds are abundant.
After the listing, the company continued to accelerate the clinical promotion of its products. Compared with the interim reporting period, the Company licensed in a Aflibercept biosimilar, OT-702, which further increased the number of the pipeline products to 17. 4 products have newly entered the III phase clinical trial, and a total of 5 clinical drugs in the III phase are far ahead in the domestic ophthalmology innovation drug companies, covering the urgent areas of ophthalmic clinical drug use, including uveitis, myopia, conjunctivitis, glaucoma, wet age-related maculopathy and so on. The product clinical process gradient is obvious, which is expected to provide a continuous driving force for the upcoming commercialization of Ocumension Therapeutics.
The company’s two core products have made new breakthroughs. OT-401 (Fluocinolone Intravitreal Implant) was included in the first batch of drug real-world study pilot list by Hainan Provincial Drug Administration Bureau, and the R&D and innovation strength was affirmed by the authority, which also opened up a new way for other ophthalmic innovative drugs in the Ocumension pipeline. Ocumension is a well-deserved pioneer in Biotech companies in the innovation of R&D model. In March 2021, OT-401 ‘s NDA was approved by NMPA. This is the first time that NMPA has accepted the drug NDA, declared with real-world study pilot data. It is also the first sustained-release preparation submitted on Chinese mainland to treat chronic non-infective uveitis and release glucocorticoid drugs at an average rate of up to 36 months. Ocumension Therapeutics’s core product, OT-401, is expected to be approved for listing in early 2022, much earlier than expected in the prospectus.
OT-101 (0.01% Atropine Sulfate Eye Drops) is another important self-developed product of Ocumension Therapeutics. As a star variety attracting worldwide attention, the poor stability of low concentration atropine has always been a major problem in its commercialization. The innovative closed split device uniquely designed by Ocumension Therapeutics has improved the reliability, sealing integrity and aseptic conditions of the device, making it as close as possible to the current drug environment of low concentration atropine preparations in hospital, thus solving the problem of stability of low concentration atropine solution. In February 2021, Ocumension Therapeutics low-concentration atropine was approved for phase III clinical trial in the United States, and then phase III IND, will be submitted in China and Europe. If approved, this will be the first international multicenter phase III clinical trial of low-concentration atropine or its analogues to include a Chinese population.
Under the leadership of CEO Liu Ye, Ocumension Therapeutics has shown a strong commercial strength differentiate from other biotech companies. In the case of mainly relying on two generic drugs, the company’s sales have climbed rapidly, with a sales revenue of RMB 13.1 million in 2020 and nearly RMB 5 million in January 2021, with an average quarterly increase of more than 200%. Considering the slow iteration of ophthalmology products, the tedious process of bidding, procurement and listing, and the long sales cycle, it is not easy to achieve such a result. As new drugs enter the later stage of commercialization, Ocumension Therapeutics is expected to further accelerate market expansion.
About Ocumension Therapeutics
Ocumension Therapeutics is a Chinese ophthalmology platform company dedicated to identifying, developing and commercializing pioneering or best-in-class ophthalmic therapies. The company’s vision is to provide world-class drug solutions to meet the huge demand for ophthalmology treatments in China. We believe that our ophthalmology platform with obvious first-mover advantage will give us a leading position in the ophthalmology industry in China. Up to now, the company has 17 kinds of drug assets in front of the eye and back of the eye, and has established a complete ophthalmic drug product line, four of which have entered phase III clinical trials in China. On July 10, 2020, Ocumension listed on the main board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (stock code: 01477).
More information about Ocumension Therapeutics: https://www.ocumension.com/