Chinese biotech firm Immunotech deploys IPO cash to bet on next technology to fight liver cancer

Company is conducting clinical trials involving liver cancer patients in 14 hospitals in northern China to prove its treatment efficacy

Stock rose 40 per cent on debut last week after its HK$1 billion Hong Kong IPO in June

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A scientist examines infected cells under a microscope during research for a vaccine in a laboratory. Photo: Reuters

Published: 12:44pm, 13 Jul 2020Updated: 10:22pm, 13 Jul 2020

Immunotech Biopharm, backed by proceeds from its HK$1 billion (US$129 million) stock offering, is out to prove the efficacy of its liver cancer-beating technology, years after Beijing clamped down on the industry to root out unproven therapies.

The Beijing-based firm is conducting a second phase of clinical trials involving 272 liver cancer patients in 14 hospitals in northern China to scientifically prove its technology’s efficacy in preventing the recurrence of cancer after a tumour-removal surgery.

Liver cancer is the fifth most common cancer in China, and the nation accounted for half the world's new cases and related deaths in 2018, according to the World Health Organisation.

“In view of the industry’s quality issues, even before the regulation change we already started doing preclinical research in 2011 and won approval to start a clinical trial in 2017,” chief executive Wang Yu said in an interview with the Post. The company aims to win state approval by 2022, she added.

Wang Yu, CEO of Beijing-based cancer therapies developer Immunotech Biopharm. Photo: Handout

The industry earned a rebuke from the government in 2015-16 after thousands of companies flooded the market with mediocre cellular immunotherapy products linked to a patient death. Beijing in 2016 required them to go through clinical trials and approval processes, instead of being marketed as medical technology products.