HONG KONG — Scott Liu Shi-kau was a director at US pharmaceutical giant Amgen when his father died of liver cancer in 2007.

It was this personal tragedy that took him to China in 2010, leading to the setting up of Shanghai Henlius Biotech, with funding from Chinese conglomerate Fosun International. His main aim — make expensive drugs affordable for Chinese people.

“I was deeply saddened by the passing of my father … as a professional in innovative drug research, I felt helpless when my own next of kin was suffering from cancer,” Mr Liu, co-founder and chief executive of Shanghai Henlius, said in an interview with the South China Morning Post ahead of the company’s listing in Hong Kong on Wednesday (Sept 25).

Liu borrowed the character “Han” from his father’s name for his company.

“By naming the company Henlius, I hope my love for my father would live on through this company as it pursues its mission.

“If our PD-1 second-line combination therapy for liver cancer proves successful, it will be a full circle and I will be very pleased.”

Henlius’ PD-1 is under phase two clinical trial. It combines the generic version of Switzerland, Basel-based Roche Group’s Avastin with Henlius’ “PD-1 inhibitor”, believed to be able to counter cell proteins preventing the immune system from killing cancer cells.

The inhibitor is among Henlius’ 16 cancer drugs — either as stand-alone compounds or in combination with other proven drugs — that are undergoing clinical trials or awaiting approval for marketing.

Fosun’s ambitious global plans and respect for professionals were the main reasons he took the company’s financial backing, he said.

The finance-to-consumer conglomerate led by billionaire Guo Guangchang controls around 54 per cent of Henlius.

Henlius shares closed at HK$49.45 (S$8.74) on Wednesday, just below the IPO price of HK$49.6 . The company had set an indicative price range from HK$49.6 to HK$57.8.

When Liu set up Henlius, he decided it would first focus on developing less risky “biosimilar” drugs before diving into innovative drugs.

Biosimilars are the generic versions of biological drugs that are made from living organisms or contain their components.

Biosimilars may differ from the original drugs, but must have nearly the same efficacy and safety profile. They are allowed to be marketed when the original patents expire.

Henlius is working on biosimilars of international giants’ blockbuster cancer drugs, including Roche’s MabThera for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Herceptin for breast cancer and Avastin for colon and lung cancers.

Its HLX01 generic of MabThera four months ago became China’s first ever biosimilar approved for launch.

Historically, the first approved generic drug in the global market eventually amasses a market share of 50 to 70 per cent, followed by 10 to 30 per cent share for the second and single-digit percentages for other followers, Mr Liu said.

He added that HLX01 is some 18 months ahead of its closest trailing rival.

HLX01 has recorded average monthly sales of around 20,000 vials since launch, each costing 1,398 yuan (S$271).

It is likely to face competition from Suzhou-based Innovent Biologics, which has completed phase three trials of its MabThera biosimilar and is awaiting marketing approval. There are five other rivals conducting phase three trials.

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma is not a big cancer category in China. The number of new cases is projected to grow from 88,100 last year to 115,900 in 2030, according to marketing consultancy Frost & Sullivan.

Henlius kicked off a price war a few months ago with Roche by selling HLX01 around a quarter cheaper than MabThera, before widening the discount to 40 per cent.

Roche then narrowed the price gap to 15 to 20 per cent by offering a bulk purchase discount. Henlius too soon plans launch a “bulk product” that will again widen the discount gap.

Henlius is also in the race to launch the first biosimilar of the breast cancer drug Herceptin in China. It has completed phase three trial and is awaiting marketing approval. One rival has finished phase three trial while two are still conducting it.

In June, Beijing published a circular to encourage mainland firms to launch copies of 34 drugs with no or limited competition from generics.

“Over the next few years, we expect an increasing number of biosimilars to be launched and these will at best leave the originator drugs with stable sales in the Chinese market,” said ratings agency Moody’s analyst Knut Slatten. SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST