FAST NEWS: Antengene Corporation Announces First Ever Revenue of $7.8 Million

The latest: Antengene Corp. Ltd. (6996.HK), a biopharmaceutical company, announced Thursday it expects revenue for the six months ended June 30 this year to range from 53 million yuan ($7.8 million) to 55 million yuan, compared with zero revenue recorded in the same period last year.

Looking up: The increase in revenue was mainly attributable to the launch of the first-in-class XPO1 inhibitor, Xpovio, in Mainland China on May 13 this year. As the drug has already generated over 53 million yuan in revenue in just over a month, its revenue is expected to continue rising in the second half of the year.

Take Note: The company’s selling and distribution expenses may increase in the future due to the commercialization of its first product, so, though it is starting to generate revenue, it may still be a long way from profitability.

Digging Deeper: Antengene, incorporated in August 2018 and headquartered in Shanghai, focuses on the development of innovative anti-tumor drugs and was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in November 2020, raising approximately HK$2.77 billion ($355 million). Since its establishment, the company has not recorded any revenue until the end of last year, with R&D costs reaching 980 million yuan over the past four years. However, as of the end of last year, the company still had cash and bank balances totaling 2.27 billion yuan to support the development of drug projects in its pipeline.

Market Reaction: The company’s share price was not helped by the positive news and closed 1.7% softer at the midday break to HK$5.30, close to the low of the past 52 weeks.

Translation by Jony Ho

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