Latest news with #CrownBioscience
Forbes
16-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
How This New Biotech Billionaire Outmaneuvered Merck In China
M ichelle Xia spent a dozen years in research and biotech in the U.S. before relocating back to her native China for a job at American life sciences contract research company Crown Bioscience. It didn't take long for her to realize that patients in her home country needed to wait a much longer time than Americans to get the newest and best medicines. Back then, she says, it took eight to ten years for drugs that had been approved in the U.S. to become available in China. 'There was not much innovation in China' in drug development then, Xia recalls. China was producing copies of U.S. drugs, but with a big lag time. Armed with the ambition to change that and ample industry experience, she launched a biotech company in 2012 with two former Crown Bioscience colleagues and one other cofounder in the southern city of Zhongshan–west of Hong Kong. She took the lead as CEO, chairwoman and president of the startup, which they named Akeso–after a Greek goddess of healing. Now, five years after taking Akeso public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the company's standout lung cancer drug has captured outsized attention in the pharmaceutical world. In a Phase 3 trial in China last year comparing Akeso's drug ivonescimab to Merck's Keytruda–the world's best-selling drug, with nearly $30 billion in 2024 sales–the Akeso drug outperformed Keytruda. The fact that a drug from a little known Chinese firm beat Merck's bestseller has led to a runup in Akeso's shares, which nearly tripled in value in the past year. That has turned 58-year-old Xia into a billionaire–with a $1.2 billion fortune, based on her and her family's 8.5% stake in the company, Forbes estimates. She is one of just nine Chinese women billionaires in healthcare (including two who inherited their fortunes)–and one of 13 self-made women billionaires in healthcare globally. More important to Xia is that her company has been an innovator. For its much-heralded cancer compound, Akeso combined two existing methods into one injectable drug: stimulating the immune system to attack the cancer cells and starving the cancer by cutting off the blood supply to the tumors. 'Usually that strategy [of combining two methods] is significantly ignored,' says Robert Booth, a former senior scientific executive at Roche and other firms and now a board member at Summit Therapeutics, which in 2022 licensed ivonescimab from Akeso for markets including the U.S., Canada, Europe and Japan. 'Michelle wasn't afraid to try that. She is confident in her own scientific judgement.' Akeso's achievements are part of a recent wave of success for Chinese biopharma companies. Nearly one-third of drug candidates licensed by large pharmaceutical firms came from Chinese companies last year, up from zero in 2019, according to research firm DealForma. In April, a U.S. congressional commission, the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology, warned in a report that the U.S. risks losing its edge in biotech–and that the government should put $15 billion in funding over five years to support biotech research and manufacturing. 'Over the past five years, China has transitioned from being a nice to watch market to a central pillar of global biopharma innovation,' PwC's pharmaceutical and life science deals leader Roel van den Akker wrote in May. Some of that progress is fueled by Chinese scientists who studied or worked in the U.S. and then moved back to China– just like Xia did. Xia, who uses her given first name, Yu, in China, grew up in Gansu province in the country's northwest, the daughter of two university-educated engineers. After getting a degree in biochemistry at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou in 1988, she obtained a scholarship and got a doctorate in molecular biology and microbiology from Newcastle University in the U.K. In 1996, she moved to the U.S. to do cancer research in a lab at the University of Louisville, in Kentucky, where she had some friends. Four years later she took a job at Celera Genomics–a company best known for its founder, Craig Venter, and his work on the first draft sequence of the human genome. Summit Therapeutics' board member Booth became chief scientific officer of Celera in 2002 and organized research committee meetings that involved senior scientists, in part to train the younger staff. 'Michelle was probably the most junior scientist to join those meetings. She would ask the most probing questions,' he recalls. Booth also set her to work using a complicated assay–a laboratory test employed in drug development–that had taken four very experienced scientists 10 weeks to get it to work when he was at Roche. 'I expected it to take months, but in two weeks she was producing good, reproducible results,'' he says. 'She was a very accomplished scientist, highly productive, and humble.' She later went on to work at Bayer and two other companies, and while in America obtained U.S. citizenship. Xia put her results-oriented focus to work when she and her Chinese colleagues launched Akeso. At the outset, she and her partners were determined to recruit the best university graduates, so they traveled 50 miles to Guangzhou—home to several good universities—to interview students in a conference room at a hospital where a friend worked, she says via Zoom from China, smiling at the memory. Finding private investors was also difficult at first, but Xia's team initially raised about $3 million from wealthy southern Chinese entrepreneurs. In 2015, Xia heard that pharma giant Merck was looking to license an immunotherapy drug candidate to target a protein called CTLA-4. It turned out that Akeso had one in early stage development. Xia, who had met someone from Merck's business development team at a conference, reached out and ended up arranging a deal to license Akeso's drug candidate to Merck for $200 million. It was the first time a Chinese company licensed a lab-developed protein (called a monoclonal antibody) to a global big pharma firm. 'That was a very good validation for us,' Xia recalls. 'We won [that deal] because of our quality and our speed.' Xia has organized Akeso to emphasize scientific advances, with nearly a third of the company's 3,500 employees working in research and development. 'We focus on science and biology and the most advanced technology,' says Xia. 'I think that makes the difference.' Since it was founded 13 years ago, Akeso has gotten five of its drugs approved by China's regulator–including its Keytruda competitor, ivonescimab. Two more drugs it developed and licensed to other companies in China were also approved. Meanwhile, another of its drugs, to treat a rare form of head and neck cancer called nasopharyngeal cancer, was also approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in April. Revenue for the company is expected to grow 59% this year to nearly $470 million, while it's likely to post a net loss of $27 million, according to analysts at Hong Kong-based CMB International. The biggest factor putting Akeso into the spotlight of global pharma was its development of cancer drug ivonescimab. While Akeso had advanced the drug to Phase 3 trials and had presented promising research at ASCO, the big annual oncology conference, in 2022 big pharma was hesitant to do deals with Chinese companies. Says Ken Clark, a longtime biotech lawyer at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and a board member of Summit Therapeutics, 'All of the pharma companies passed on ivonescimab primarily because they didn't believe the data.' Luckily for Akeso, Summit's co-CEOs Maky Zanganeh and Bob Duggan, both now U.S. billionaires, had instructed their small team that same year to scour the globe for a drug in Phase 3 trials to license. One executive who was originally from China, Fong Clow, suggested looking there, and within months the Summit team had narrowed their focus to Akeso's drug. It turned out that Xia, Zanganeh and Duggan had a common tie: A drug candidate that Xia had worked on at Celera Genomics in the early 2000s was later purchased by Pharmacyclics, Duggan and Zanganeh's previous biotech company. Under their leadership, Pharmacyclics took the drug–called Imbruvica–through to FDA approval in 2013 for treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia, the most common form of leukemia. It became a blockbuster, and drug giant AbbVie bought Pharmacyclics for $21 billion in 2015. That connection helped give Xia confidence in Zanganeh and Duggan, both of whom had unorthodox backgrounds for biopharma executives: Zanganeh started as a dentist and Duggan, a serial entrepreneur, had run a cookie company, a needlepoint kit seller and more before investing in a robotic surgical company, where he met Zanganeh. The two teams soon recognized they both had entrepreneurial cultures. 'They found me, and I think it's a perfect fit,' says Xia. Akeso and Summit inked their licensing deal in December 2022, with Summit agreeing to pay $500 million upfront plus up to $4.5 billion in potential milestone payments. (Summit is now conducting its own Phase 3 trials of the Akeso drug in order to get approval from the U.S. FDA.) Xia joined Summit's board the next month. 'From the start, she built a company that could handle every step of drug development—from discovery to manufacturing—all under one roof. This gave Akeso speed, flexibility, and control in an industry where timing is everything,' Zanganeh says via text message. At a lung cancer conference in San Diego in September last year, Akeso announced the results of its head to head Phase 3 clinical trial with Merck's Keytruda for patients with a specific type of lung cancer. The patients on Akeso's drug went a median 11.1 months before the cancer returned, compared to 5.8 months for those taking Keytruda. Akeso's stock jumped 16% on the news the next day. Friends from around China and the U.S. reached out to congratulate Xia. Xia has even bigger goals. Akeso already has more than a dozen drug candidates it developed in clinical trials, and she wants to push the company beyond cancer drugs to pursue treatments for neurodegenerative diseases and autoimmune diseases, particularly as China's population ages. That means investing in new technology and new types of drugs, all with the goal of serving patients. Says Xia: 'We want to join the club and become a great company.' More from Forbes Forbes This AI Founder Became A Billionaire By Building ChatGPT For Doctors By Amy Feldman Forbes How The Healthcare Industry Can Address Delays In Psychiatric Care By Amanda Marlar Forbes Meet India's Self-Made Biologics Brewmaster Billionaire By Amy Feldman Forbes Catalysts In Innovation: A Doctor's Dream Impacts Healthcare By Hansa Bhargava
Business Wire
24-06-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Crown Bioscience Named Fierce CRO Award Winner for Excellence in Global Operations
SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Crown Bioscience, a global contract research organization (CRO) headquartered in the United States and part of JSR Life Sciences and Japan-based JSR Corporation, today announces it has been named the Fierce CRO Award winner in the Excellence in Global Operations category by Fierce Biotech. Crown Bioscience Named Fierce CRO Award Winner for Excellence in Global Operations Share The Fierce CRO Awards celebrate exceptional achievements and innovations by Contract Research Organizations, recognizing CROs demonstrating outstanding performance, innovation, and leadership in delivering high-quality research and development services. The awards emphasize the critical role CROs play in advancing life sciences research and improving patient outcomes. John Gu, Chief Executive Officer of Crown Bioscience, stated, "Winning this award for Excellence in Global Operations is a proud moment for Crown Bioscience and a meaningful recognition of the outstanding work delivered by our global operations team. Alongside our 2024 Excellence in Client Services and Partnership Award, these accolades highlight our unwavering commitment to serving clients with excellence and our contribution to discovering innovative new medicines." Fierce CRO Award finalists and winners are evaluated based on Innovation and Impact, Measurable Outcomes, Sustainability and Scalability, and Ethical and Regulatory Adherence. Winners are featured in the Fierce CRO Report. Click here to read the report: About Crown Bioscience Crown Bioscience, a JSR Life Sciences company, is a global contract research organization (CRO) dedicated to accelerating drug discovery and development in oncology and immuno-oncology. We partner with biotech and pharmaceutical companies to provide innovative, tailored solutions spanning preclinical research, translational platforms, and clinical trial support. With the world's largest commercially available patient-derived xenograft (PDX) collection and approximately 1,000 tumor organoid models powered by Hubrecht Organoid Technology, we offer unparalleled insights across 35 cancer indications. Our expertise spans in vivo, in vitro, ex vivo, and in silico methods, complemented by advanced laboratory services that span the entire drug development continuum. Additionally, our extensive biobank of liquid and human biospecimens, complete with clinical histories, enhances oncology research capabilities. Operating from 11 state-of-the-art facilities across the US, Europe, and APAC, our laboratories meet the highest industry standards, including accreditation by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). To learn more, visit
Business Wire
07-05-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Crown Bioscience Achieves Green Lab Sustainability Certification
SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Crown Bioscience, a global contract research organization (CRO) headquartered in the United States and a part of JSR Life Sciences and Japan-based JSR Corporation, today announced that its facility in Leiden, Netherlands, has achieved the highest level of certification in the My Green Lab Certification program. This 'Green' level certification is the gold standard in laboratory sustainability best practices. Crown Bioscience Achieves Green Lab Sustainability Certification Share The My Green Lab Certification program, which is endorsed by the United Nations Race to Zero campaign, evaluated Crown Bioscience Netherlands across a range of sustainability metrics, including energy, water, waste, materials, recycling, and environmental engagement. After a thorough assessment, the lab earned a score of 81%—the highest level possible—demonstrating excellence and leadership in eco-friendly laboratory management. "We are thrilled to have our Netherlands site become the first My Green Lab certified location within Crown Bioscience," said Maria Radino, Vice President, Global Quality and Regulatory Compliance at Crown Bioscience. "This reflects the tremendous work our sustainability team has done to make our laboratories more environmentally responsible." The lab has implemented green initiatives to promote sustainability in several key areas. An administrative effort involved establishing a dedicated sustainability team to facilitate knowledge sharing and best practices throughout the organization. Sustainability has been integrated into the lab's documentation and training systems to reaffirm a long-term commitment to eco-friendly practices, including recycling and reducing plastic waste. Operationally, there has been a strong emphasis on equipment use, exploring new products with sustainable benefits, and promoting eco-friendly practices in water consumption and autoclave operations. The facility is taking steps to embed sustainability across its value chain by employing specific criteria in supplier selection and adopting a first in, first out (FIFO) inventory system to prevent product expiration and streamline ordering processes. Priority continues to focus on enhancing reagent and supply management, as well as sourcing biodegradable and environmentally safe products. By achieving this certification, Crown Bioscience is leading the way in building a culture of sustainability in the life sciences industry. The company is committed to expanding its sustainable lab practices to all locations worldwide. As a leading CRO, Crown Bioscience's certification demonstrates that environmental responsibility and world-class oncology research go hand in hand. Its Netherlands facility has set the sustainability bar high—defining what it means to be a green lab of the future. For more information on Crown Bioscience's certifications and accreditations, please click here. About Crown Bioscience Crown Bioscience, a JSR Life Sciences company, is a global contract research organization (CRO) dedicated to accelerating drug discovery and development in oncology and immuno-oncology. We partner with biotech and pharmaceutical companies to provide innovative, tailored solutions spanning preclinical research, translational platforms, and clinical trial support. With the world's largest commercially available patient-derived xenograft (PDX) collection and approximately 1,000 tumor organoid models powered by Hubrecht Organoid Technology, we offer unparalleled insights across 35 cancer indications. Our expertise spans in vivo, in vitro, ex vivo, and in silico methods, complemented by advanced laboratory services that span the entire drug development continuum. Additionally, our extensive biobank of liquid and human biospecimens, complete with clinical histories, enhances oncology research capabilities. Operating from 11 state-of-the-art facilities across the US, Europe, and APAC, our laboratories meet the highest industry standards, including accreditation by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). To learn more, visit
Business Wire
01-05-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Crown Bioscience and NEXT Oncology Cement Partnership Extension
SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Crown Bioscience, a global contract research organization (CRO) headquartered in the United States and part of JSR Life Sciences and Japan-based JSR Corporation, is pleased to announce the extension of its partnership with NEXT Oncology, one of the world's largest Phase I Oncology Clinical Trial networks. This strategic partnership will continue to leverage Crown Bioscience's extensive experience in developing clinically relevant cancer organoid and patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models, together with NEXT Oncology's global clinical network and Phase I clinical trials expertise. Crown Bioscience and NEXT Oncology Cement Partnership Extension Share Through this extended agreement, Crown Bioscience reaffirms its exclusive rights to provide services based on patient samples sourced from NEXT Oncology's industry-leading global clinical trial network. This collaboration underscores Crown Bioscience's commitment to providing the most clinically relevant PDX and organoid models and solutions for translational oncology research. "We are thrilled to continue our exclusive partnership with NEXT Oncology," said John Gu, CEO of Crown Bioscience. "NEXT Oncology is globally recognized for its pioneering work in Phase I clinical oncology trials. Extending this partnership allows us to broaden our portfolio and strengthen our position as a leader in translational oncology platforms and integrated solutions. Our combined expertise and global reach will ensure rapid and scalable access to groundbreaking cancer models for our biopharma partners." 'NEXT Oncology is excited to continue our strong partnership with Crown Bioscience,' said Dr. Anthony Tolcher, CEO of NEXT Oncology. 'Together, we will continue to develop new and highly relevant patient models that Crown's biopharma partners can utilize to advance their translational oncology programs. Our combined efforts continue to support both companies' missions to help cancer patients receive the most advanced medicines possible.' About Crown Bioscience Crown Bioscience, a JSR Life Sciences company, is a global contract research organization (CRO) dedicated to accelerating drug discovery and development in oncology and immuno-oncology. We partner with biotech and pharmaceutical companies to provide innovative, tailored solutions spanning preclinical research, translational platforms, and clinical trial support. With the world's largest commercially available patient-derived xenograft (PDX) collection and approximately 1,000 tumor organoid models powered by Hubrecht Organoid Technology, we offer unparalleled insights across 35 cancer indications. Our expertise spans in vivo, in vitro, ex vivo, and in silico methods, complemented by advanced laboratory services that span the entire drug development continuum. Additionally, our extensive biobank of liquid and human biospecimens, complete with clinical histories, enhances oncology research capabilities. Operating from 11 state-of-the-art facilities across the US, Europe, and APAC, our laboratories meet the highest industry standards, including accreditation by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). To learn more, visit About NEXT Oncology NEXT Oncology is dedicated to the development of new anticancer agents for patients whose current cancer therapy is no longer working to benefit them and are looking for their next option. NEXT Oncology is partnered with Texas Oncology, the largest private oncology practice in the United States with more than 400 referring medical oncologists. Texas Oncology is a practice within The US Oncology Network, a network of independent, community-based oncologists in the U.S. This formidable size and reach provide NEXT Oncology unprecedented opportunities to transform what has come to be expected from clinical trials of new agents.
Business Wire
28-04-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
AACR 2025: Crown Bioscience Unveils 3D Bone Marrow Niche
SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Crown Bioscience, a global contract research organization (CRO) headquartered in the United States and a part of JSR Life Sciences and Japan-based JSR Corporation, today unveils at AACR 2025 its cutting-edge 3D bone marrow niche (BMN) in vitro models to advance hematological cancer research. Providing both the physical environment (cell-cell interactions), and the growth factor cocktail that hematological cancer cells require to thrive and proliferate, this innovative model provides a dynamic platform for studying liquid malignancies such as acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and multiple myeloma (MM). Crown Bioscience Unveils 3D Bone Marrow Niche In Vitro Models for Oncology Preclinical Screening in Hematological Malignancies Share The system incorporates key cellular components—stromal cells and endothelial cells—within biofunctional hydrogels seeded with patient-derived tumor cells, optionally supplemented with autologous immune cells. By accurately capturing the essential tumor microenvironment, the niche provides a physiologically relevant system that offers insight into tumor behavior, immune evasion, and drug resistance, outperforming classic suspension assays when it comes to cell viability, assay versatility, and clinical predictivity. 'Crown Bioscience is proud to unveil this high-content imaging-based 3D BMN platform that offers a unique and robust high-throughput drug screening in primary patient cells that allows testing of malignancies and toxicities at scale,' said Ludovic Bourré, Vice President, Research and Innovation, Crown Bioscience. 'Until now, bone marrow research has lagged behind solid tumor research due to lack of relevant in vitro models. With these BMN technological advances, we are now able to help researchers understand how cancer survives therapies once it reaches the bone marrow. This allows them to guide the selection of drug candidates with fewer off-target or bone marrow-related side effects and to overcome drug resistance mechanisms.' Researchers can realize significant benefits with the BMN models including: The use of more predictive ex vivo data to increase accuracy in cancer cell response The ability to screen compounds for hematological toxicity earlier in the drug development process Enhanced translational insight for more informed in vivo studies, helping to reduce animal use and speed up drug development Enabling the creation of more effective, targeted treatments through adhesion-mediated drug resistance modeling Unlocking new potential in stem cell, hematological malignancy, and bone-marrow-specific oncology studies The introduction of the BMN platform seamlessly integrates into Crown Bioscience's expertise in 3D organoid-like cell cultures, drug resistance models, and AML mouse models and bridges a gap between in vitro and in vivo models. Bourré said, 'This is a very exciting advancement for researchers and with this offering that integrates into Crown Bioscience's existing solutions, we're able to continually foster innovation and accelerate drug development.' Crown Bioscience will be presenting a poster at AACR, with details below. Title: 3D Bone Marrow Niche: Scalable and Physiologically Relevant Ex Vivo Drug Screening Platform for Acute Myeloid Leukemia and Multiple Myeloma Session Category: Experimental and Molecular Therapeutics Session Title: Drug Discovery Assay Technologies Session Date and Time: April 29 at 2:00PM CT Location: Poster section 16 Poster Board Number: 21 Published Abstract Number: 5493 To learn more about 3D BMN, visit our platform page. To view Crown Bioscience's poster, click here. About Crown Bioscience Crown Bioscience, a JSR Life Sciences company, is a global contract research organization (CRO) dedicated to accelerating drug discovery and development in oncology and immuno-oncology. We partner with biotech and pharmaceutical companies to provide innovative, tailored solutions spanning preclinical research, translational platforms, and clinical trial support. With the world's largest commercially available patient-derived xenograft (PDX) collection and approximately 1,000 tumor organoid models powered by Hubrecht Organoid Technology, we offer unparalleled insights across 35 cancer indications. Our expertise spans in vivo, in vitro, ex vivo, and in silico methods, complemented by advanced laboratory services that span the entire drug development continuum. Additionally, our extensive biobank of liquid and human biospecimens, complete with clinical histories, enhances oncology research capabilities. Operating from 11 state-of-the-art facilities across the US, Europe, and APAC, our laboratories meet the highest industry standards, including accreditation by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). To learn more, visit
