We get a lot of questions about China and most of you have seen a Chinese licensing opportunity cross your desk in the past twelve months. The opportunity is vast and the quality of assets is getting better and better. The economics can be compelling, yet very few European CEOs have a playbook for how to actually get one of these deals done, or how to think about running early clinical programs on the ground in China.
Lisa Deschamps is the CEO of AviadoBio, a neuroscience biotech who has done this three times over. She in-licensed an ophthalmology asset from a Chinese company. She is now running two additional clinical development programs in China through IIT structures. And she did all of this after a first deal that collapsed a week before signing, with all the dysfunction and lack of transparency that feed the worst assumptions about doing business in China.
She will walk through what she learned across those experiences and why the second and third time looked nothing like the first.
A few things she will cover:
How the first deal went wrong. A Chinese company backed by one of their own venture investors, Western-educated leadership on both sides, fully negotiated contracts. It fell apart anyway. The reasons are instructive for anyone assuming that familiar faces on the other side of the table mean familiar behaviour.
How the deal that worked came together. Her CTO met the partner at a scientific conference. The company was not shopping. The relationship was built before the term sheet. The working dynamic with the venture group behind that company, Fosun Pharma, has been collaborative in a way the first experience was not.
What the diligence actually looks like. Her team was on the ground three or four times. They audited CROs, CMC providers, and every vendor in the chain. She has three native Mandarin speakers on her team, which changes what you can see and verify. If you do not have that, she will tell you what the alternatives are.
Running clinical programs in China to accelerate timelines. Beyond in-licensing, she moved two of her own pipeline programs into China-based IIT structures and cut a year off the time to first-in-human. The cost savings were significant. She will share what that setup requires, including the role of a local operating entity like Belief Biomed.
How one deal opens the next. The venture group behind her ophthalmology partner has now introduced a portfolio company interested in Chinese rights to her Alzheimer's program. A single deal created an ongoing channel for both assets and potential revenue.
This session was originally conceived for our board chair community, but we felt there is so much value in it for CEOs, we decided to include them. This is a conversation about how to evaluate the opportunity, how to manage the risk, and how to make sure the board is equipped to have a view.
Lisa may be joined by her COO or CTO who were instrumental in the above and led the on-the-ground diligence.
LISA DESCHAMPS
Lisa has led AviadoBio as CEO since Oct 2021 and brings extensive experience in commercialization and strategic dealmaking in gene therapies as the former global business head of Novartis' neuroscience business and SVP/CBO of Novartis' gene therapies business. She sits on the board of Laverock Therapeutics, was a NED of Veroma Pharma until its sale to Merck last October, is a current board member of BIO and the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine. She has also been advising portfolio companies of her VC investors on how to structure and execute China-based deals and clinical programs.