The new hepatitis C drug with a sales potential of 2 billion is successfully launched, adding to the value curve of HEC CJ PHARM (01558) Hangzhou XZB Tech.

On February 8th, the NMPA official website showed that Guangdong Hec Technology Holding's Class 1 new drug, Nantanswe Capsules (trade name: Dong Wei Zhuo), for the treatment of adult patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1, 2, 3, 6 infection, whether compensated cirrhosis is present or not, has been approved for marketing in conjunction with Ascovir disoproxil tablets. It is anticipated that Ascovir disoproxil tablets will also be approved for marketing this month, making it the second hepatitis C drug to be marketed by Guangdong Hec Technology Holding this year. Previously, Guangdong Hec Technology Holding had already launched a NS5A inhibitor, Emetovir disoproxil fumarate (Dong Wei En), for the treatment of genotype 1 hepatitis C virus, which is prevalent in China. With the approval for marketing of the two drugs in the Phosphintasvir combined with Ascovir disoproxil tablets (formerly known as Yinqiangbuvi) regimen, Guangdong Hec Technology Holding will become the only domestic company with an independent full-genome hepatitis C combination. It is currently estimated that there are approximately 10 million hepatitis C virus-infected individuals in China, with around 3 million chronic patients. Due to the subtle early symptoms of hepatitis C, the actual diagnosis rate is low, with over 200,000 new cases reported annually in recent years. In order to achieve the goal of eliminating hepatitis C by 2030, tens of thousands of hepatitis C patients need to receive treatment each year. There is still a large unmet need in the domestic hepatitis C market with significant room for expansion. Additionally, with increased screening and expanded medical insurance coverage, the potential treatment population is expected to grow. It is projected that the market size for hepatitis C drugs in China will increase from 20 billion yuan in 2019 to 100 billion yuan by 2025, with an annual compound growth rate exceeding 30%. In terms of market competition, aside from Guangdong Hec Technology Holding, there are only a few domestic and foreign companies such as Gilead and Beijing Kawin Technology Share-Holding leading in the field. Among them, only Gilead and Guangdong Hec Technology Holding have actual full-genome hepatitis C treatment drugs. Regarding Guangdong Hec Technology Holding, previous studies have shown that the Phosphintasvir combined with Yinqiangbuvi regimen has overall efficacy comparable to existing antiviral regimens on the market, with particularly outstanding results in genotype 2 patients. The efficacy is not affected by baseline viral load, cirrhosis status (compensated or decompensated), baseline related amino acid mutations, with minimal drug interactions, fewer adverse reactions, and ease of use with only a once-a-day oral dosage. Furthermore, it is worth mentioning that the current domestic hepatitis C treatment market is characterized by the strong concealment of the disease, a large number of patients concentrated at the grassroots level, and the international promotion emphasis of large pharmaceutical companies such as Gilead on tier-one and tier-two cities. Guangdong Hec Technology Holding possesses a marketing team of experienced sales professionals, consisting of nearly 2000 sales representatives, forming a large sales and distribution network. Currently, its distribution network covers over 2500 tertiary hospitals, over 9500 secondary hospitals, and over 75,000 primary hospitals in more than 300 prefecture-level cities across 32 provinces in China. Therefore, the company is poised to leverage its accumulated experience in production scale, channel coverage, and academic promotion to provide suitable diagnosis and treatment solutions to more hepatitis C patients. With a strong production and sales capacity driving forward, the newly approved Nantanswe Capsules are expected to become a major product with sales exceeding 2 billion yuan in the future.