China approval for Byvasda, a bevacizumab biosimilar

19 June 2020

Shares of China-based Innovent Biologics (HKEX: 01801) closed up1.1% at HK$49.50 today, after it announced that Byvasda (bevacizumab biosimilar), a recombinant humanized anti-VEGF monoclonal antibody drug independently developed by Innovent, has been officially approved by China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer and metastatic colorectal cancer in China.

Byvasda, a biosimilar of Swiss pharma giant Roche’s (ROG: SIX) blockbuster drug Avastin – with first quarter 2020 sales of around $1.5 billion, is Innovent's second monoclonal antibody drug approved by the NMPA following Tyvyt (sintilimab injection, officially approved for treatment of patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma in December 2018).

However, it is not the first Avastin biosimilar OKed in China, with that being the achievement of Qilu Pharmaceutical, which received approval in December 2019 for its QL-1101 under the trade name Ankada.

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