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Week in Review: Chipscreen Gains 367% Following $148 Million Shanghai STAR IPO

publication date: Aug 17, 2019
 | 
author/source: Richard Daverman, PhD

Deals and Financings

China's Chipscreen Bio (SHA: 688321) gained a huge 367% in its first trading session following its IPO on the Shanghai STAR exchange, giving the company a market cap of $4.2 billion (see story), When the first 25 STAR Board IPOs hit the market last month, the average gain was 140%, which was considered a huge jump. Chipscreen's gain was 2.5 times larger. Chipscreen develops small molecule drugs for cancer, diabetes, endocrine and autoimmune diseases. It priced its IPO 27% above its original target and raised $148 million, an amount that now seems charmingly quaint.

Nanjing Frontier Biotechnologies was approved to stage a $285 million IPO on the Shanghai STAR Exchange (see story). Frontier has a China approved treatment for HIV, and it is developing another HIV treatment that it in-licensed from the Rockefeller University of New York City. Founded in 2002 by returnees, Frontier has developed a long-acting peptide drug discovery-development platform that is designed to transform any peptide drug into a long-acting agent. Frontier is developing its own drugs, but it also offers its platform to outside companies to develop long-acting formulations.

Beijing Baicare Biotech closed a $9 million B financing that was led by Sinopharm Capital and included the company's existing shareholders (see story). Formed in 2013, Baicare makes automated nucleic acid detection devices for clinical use using microfluidic chips and gene detection technology. The company offers a program to detect pathogenic bacteria and another to assess antibiotic/drug resistance that guides doctors toward more effective treatments. Because of its stature, Sinopharm will be able to help Baicare increase its visibility in the clinical diagnostic field.

Stemirna Therapeutics, a Shanghai RNA biopharma, raised nearly $14 million in a Series A financing (see story). Founded in 2016 by a group of returning PhDs from MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, the company uses its proprietary Core Shell Structure Platform for mRNA Vaccines (LPP/mRNA®) to discover new drug candidates. Currently, Stemirna is developing more than a dozen mRNA drug projects that are either mRNA personalized cancer vaccines or vaccines for infectious disease, protein defects or genetic diseases. The company claims to be the first and only platform-based mRNA R&D enterprise in China.

Vapo Health, a China medical device company specializing in nebulizers, completed a Series A financing led by CCB International (see story). Although the specific amount was not disclosed, it was reported to be in the "millions of dollars" range. Vapo offers a nano-scale atomized micro-hole technology to ensure consistent particle size. Formed in 2015, the company launched its first product in 2018. Vapo is already one of the top three dealers in Germany and Italy and exports its products to 14 countries, especially EU and US markets. Vapo is located in Kunshan, Jiangsu Province.

Qiyu Biotechnology, a Shanghai startup located in Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park, completed a Series A round that raised "tens of millions of RMB" from Jundu Investment and Wosheng Capital (see story). This proceeds are earmarked to support the pre-clinical development of the company's large molecule candidates. Established in 2017, Qiyu is developing novel candidates to treat difficult cancers, autoimmune diseases and metabolic diseases for China and aboard. The company is a product of Zhangjiang's Viva International Incubator.

Trials and Approvals

Aslan Pharma (NSDQ: ASLN, TPEx:6497) of Singapore provided an update on the progress of its three clinical-stage oncology and immunology candidates (see story):
• The company signed up K-MASTER to run a 400 patient South Korean Phase Ib/II trial of its lead drug, varlitinib, in patients with metastatic gastric cancer.
• ASLAN003 started a four-arm Phase II clinical trial for advanced relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia;
• Aslan acquired global rights to ASLAN004 for all indications from CSL in a $780 million deal. Previously, Aslan had global rights only for asthma.

DelMar Pharma (NSDQ: DMPI) of Vancouver and Menlo Park reported early results from its China Phase II trial of VAL-083 as a first line treatment for glioblastoma multiforme (see story). VAL-083 is being administered along with radiation to patients with newly-diagnosed, MGMT-unmethylated GBM. Among the first 17 patients who have had three post-treatment examinations, 53% showed a complete response and 41% had stable disease. Only one of the 17 has died. The trial is being conducted in collaboration with Guangxi Wuzhou Pharma, Del Mar's China partner.

Bio-Thera Solutions of Guangzhou began a China Phase I trial to examine the pharmacokinetics and safety of its BAT2506, a proposed biosimilar to Simponi® (golimumab), a Janssen treatment for arthritis/ulcerative colitis (see story). The comparison trial is a randomized, double-blind, two-arm, parallel group study that will enroll approximately 182 healthy volunteers. Each volunteer will receive a single subcutaneous dose of either BAT2506 or Simponi. Bio-Thera develops novel drugs and biosimilars for cancer, autoimmune and cardiovascular diseases. Its other arthritis biosimilars mimic AbbVie's Humira and Genentech’s RoActemra.

Shanghai's Zai Lab (NSDQ: ZLAB) announced its electric field treatment for cancer, Tumor Treating Fields, was designated an Innovative Medical Device in China, which accelerates the approval process (see story). Zai in-licensed greater China rights to the product from Novocare last year, and launched the product in Hong Kong in December as a treatment for glioblastoma multiform under the name Optune. Optune uses electric fields tuned to specific frequencies to disrupt cancer cell division, inhibiting tumor growth and inducing cancer cell death.

Disclosure: none.

 


 

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