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offers and financing
Beijing Biocytogen Pharma (HK:02315) has completed a US$60 million IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange for its genetically modified animal and cell models business, which it offers to global pharma/biotech companies. Using its animal models, Biocytogen has also developed an innovative one In vivo efficacy and safety screening process to discover 10+ preclinical and clinical candidates, a collection of monoclonal antibodies, bispecific antibodies and bispecific ADCs. Three products were out-licensed and/or included in joint development. Biocytogen has a market cap of $357 million.
Shanghai Neukio Biotherapeutics closed a $50 million Series A-1 financing to support the development of its cell therapy molecules, specifically commercial allogeneic CAR-T therapies. A year ago, Neukio raised $40 million in a fishing round. The Company will use the funds to accelerate preclinical/clinical validation of induced pluripotent stem cell (IPSC)-derived commercial CAR-NK cell therapy products while expanding its team and operations. The recent financing was led by CD Capital, with participation from Alwin Capital and Surplus Capital as new investors. Existing shareholders Lilly Asia Ventures, Sherpa Healthcare Partners and IDG Capital also joined.
Hangzhou-based E-nitiate Biopharma has closed a $15 million Series A financing to develop drugs for autoimmune diseases. Founded in 2020, E-nitiate is a joint venture between VivaVision Biotech and the Betta Pharmaceuticals fund, which has contributed at least $3 million in an angel round. The company plans to develop products from its own R&D pipeline as well as strategic collaborations with other companies. It is also collaborating with Betta Pharma on clinical trials for the latter company’s pipeline. E-nitiateBio is a project of Hangzhou Linping National Development Zone.
Shanghai Asieris Pharma (SHA:688176) acquired rights to nepicastat, a small molecule drug that could be an effective therapy for heart failure, from Acorda Therapeutics (ACOR) in a $7.5 million deal (see article). Asieris will have rights to all non-psychiatric indications of the drug. Acorda acquired nepicastat when it bought Biotie Pharma, a Finnish company, in 2016. Acorda originally developed the candidate as a therapy for cocaine addiction and PTSD, although clinical trials have not been successful. Acorda will receive an upfront payment of $500,000 and up to $7 million in milestone payments plus royalties.
Mayo Clinic, Hibiscus BioVentures and Hangzhou Innoforce launched Mayflower BioVentures, a cell and gene therapy accelerator that will establish companies to develop novel Mayo Clinic technologies through preclinical and early proof of concept studies. Despite being a hospital, Mayo has produced a portfolio of next-generation immune system modulators and several novel therapeutics in cell and gene therapy. The Center for Regenerative Biotherapeutics works to advance regenerative technologies from discovery to early-stage clinical trials, including collaborations with companies like Hibiscus. Innoforce provides CDMO services to cell and gene therapy companies.
Hangzhou DAC Biotechnology will apply its ADC technology to develop up to five products for Janssen Biotech, a division of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) (see article). As a 10-year ADC specialist, DAC’s ADC platform includes more than 50 novel smart linkers (including site-specific conjugation) and 100 small molecule cytotoxic drugs. DAC receives an upfront payment, reimbursement and milestone payments, and royalties for each product selected. Johnson & Johnson Innovation will make an equity investment in DAC. Specific details were not announced. The agreement was originally announced in June this year.
Shanghai UniCar Therapy closed Series C funding to advance clinical trials of its ssCART-19 injection in patients with leukemia. Guan Bang Fund and Junci Investment were the two named investors in the C round. UniCar’s ssCART-19 injection, the company’s lead CAR-T 2.0, expresses single-chain antibodies that target CD19 and IL-6 silencing elements (shRNA). The company anticipates that IL-6 silencing will reduce cytokine release syndrome in patients. UniCar is focused on advancing CAR-T products to increase their effectiveness. The company said the C round raised “tens of millions of RMB.”
corporate news
I-Mab (IMAB) said it will focus its drug development efforts on five key candidates for which it will seek international partners once the candidates reach Phase I or II proof of concept (see article). It plans to out-license the ex-China rights while retaining the rights in China, although it will also partner in commercialization in China to avoid the expense of building a sales team. The detailed presentation of the company’s assets appears to be an indirect denial that I-Mab is attempting to sell the entire company, a possibility raised in recent press reports. I-Mab pointed out that it has nearly $600 million in cash, enough to operate for three years.
exams and approvals
Sirnaomics (HK:2257) reported that its lead product, an siRNA (small interfering RNA) therapy, produced a 100% complete response in patients with cutaneous basal cell carcinoma. Five patients received a 180 μg dose of STP705 in the phase II clinical trial of STP705. The candidate consists of two siRNA oligonucleotides that target the expression of TGF-β1 and COX-2 mRNA, respectively. BCC is a non-melanoma skin cancer associated with exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet radiation. Sirnaomics is a Suzhou, Maryland-based biotech company dedicated to the development of RNAi drugs.
Shanghai RedCloud Bio dosed the first patient in a Phase I/II study in China of its lead product, a next-generation EGFR-TKI candidate for NSCLC with the C797S mutation resistant to other EGFR-TKIS therapies . RedCloud uses structural pharmacology and computational approaches for small molecule drug discovery and development. H002 is a fourth-generation EGRF inhibitor discovered by RedCloud. In preclinical studies, the candidate demonstrated a broad spectrum of activity and high selectivity against EGFR mutations, including single, double and triple mutations. H0002 has also demonstrated potent anti-tumor activity in an EGFR-positive brain metastasis model.
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Editor’s note: The summary bullet points for this article were selected by Seeking Alpha editors.
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