Why immuno-therapy is leaving markets abuzz across the world
Research into the field that uses the body’s own immune system to help fight cancer creating huge interest among the investment community
The biotechnology sector’s fastest-growing segment, immuno-oncology, has become the hottest buzzword for investment in Asia.
The field, that uses the body’s own immune system to help fight cancer, has seen two mega acquisitions in the United States in recent months.
And Hong Kong stock exchange is now tuning into its strong future, with Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) already agreeing to revamp listing rules that will fast track applications by firms linked with the sector to help more innovative drugs and medical devices developers go public as soon as early this summer, and raise much-needed development cash.
The whole concept of the body’s immune system being able to fight cancer has created huge excitement among the investment community.
Some of the sector’s more promising companies have already seen dramatic rises in their share prices.
The most marked has been Nanjing-based Genscript Biotech, a life sciences research services provider and cancer treatment developer, which has enjoyed a 63.5 per cent surge since December after winning a US$350 million investment from Johnson & Johnson offshoot, Janssen Biotech, to jointly develop a treatment for a type of blood cancer called multiple myeloma.
Genscript shares have rise tenfold since it first announced 12 months ago that clinical research on its “proprietary” technology, in collaboration with hospitals in China, had yielded “promising” results at the pre-clinical trial stage.