China’s biotech firms challenge US with rapidly developing RAS-targeted cancer therapies
The rapid development of China’s RAS-targeted cancer drugs could reshape global oncology and unlock the country’s undervalued biotech firms
When the shares of Revolution Medicines surged after the US biotech firm unveiled a landmark result – its drug nearly doubled the overall survival for late-stage pancreatic cancer patients to 13.2 months – investment banks and scientists flagged that the company’s Chinese rivals racing to target the same cancer mutation are significantly undervalued by the market.
“The large patient population, significant unmet medical need, and multibillion-dollar market potential have made RAS one of the most active and highly contested areas in oncology drug development,” Yver said.
RAS – from rat sarcoma virus, first discovered in retroviruses isolated from rats – was named after the proteins that regulate how cells grow, multiply and survive. Cancer can begin when the genes encoding these proteins are damaged or mutated, according to scientists.
The fast pace of China’s challenge to the US biotech and innovative drugs sector is due to massive input and policy support from Beijing – and it is also set to rewrite the valuation of companies listed in mainland China and Hong Kong.
Recent clinical successes in RAS-targeted therapies have unlocked “tens of billions of dollars” in global market opportunities, with the second half of this year set to be “a catalyst-rich period” for the space, according to a recent Morgan Stanley report.