Deals and Financings

Zai Lab (NSDQ: ZLAB; HK: 9688) raised $761 million in a Hong Kong IPO and rose 8.5% in its first trading session to a market cap of $6.8 billion (see story). Zai Lab has been listed on the NASDAQ exchange since 2017. An in-licensing company, Zai's leading drug is Zejula, a PARP inhibitor that is approved in China as a maintenance therapy for ovarian cancer. Its portfolio consists of 15 drug candidates and one device. In addition to in-licensings, Zai is also using internal innovation to discover new products.  

XtalPi, an AI drug discovery and development company, closed a $318.8 million oversubscribed Series C funding co-led by SoftBank Vision Fund2, PICC Capital and Morningside (see story). The company uses its expertise in crystal structures plus quantum physics, AI and cloud computing to develop new drugs. XtalPi's model combines physics-based concepts with data from labs. Because the three founders met at MIT, the company's headquarters are in Cambridge, MA, though its computational R&D center and experimental center are in Shenzhen.  

Suzhou CStone Pharma (HK: 2616) formed a partnership with Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) for China commercialization of CStone's PD-1 candidate, sugemalimab (see story). In return for a $200 million investment in CStone, Pfizer will in-license China rights to the candidate. The $200 million will purchase a 10% stake in CStone. Also, CStone will be eligible for up to $280 million in milestones, plus royalties. In addition, the two companies will seek to bring other oncology assets to China.

Fosun Pharma (SH: 600196; HK: 02196) of Shanghai closed its $182 million in-licensing of China rights to balixafortide with Switzerland's Polyphor AG (see story). Balixafortide is a selective blocker of CXCR4 with multiple mechanisms, which is in an international Phase III trial for recurrent breast cancer. Fosun has made the initial payment of $15 million, and it agreed to pay future development milestones of $19 million and sales milestones of $148 million, plus royalties.

Taimei Technology of Shanghai completed a $176 million financing to support its AI cloud-based suite of programs for clinical trials (see story). The company says its SAAS platform enables clinical research collaboration between sponsors, sites, CROs, patients, regulatory agencies and third-party providers. Its latest funding was co-led by Tencent Holdings, GL Ventures (a Hillhouse subsidiary) and YF Capital. One year ago, Taimei closed a $212 million Series E/E+ round.  

InventisBio, a Shanghai company developing novel small molecule drugs, completed a $147 million series D financing led by GL Ventures, a Hillhouse affiliate (see story). It has four drug candidates in various clinical stage trials, including two registration trials. The company develops molecules with best-in-class and first-in-class potential for unmet needs in cancer and metabolic diseases. Its products target HER2 positive breast cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, solid tumors, gout and NASH.  

Virogin Biotech, a Vancouver company developing oncolytic virus immunotherapies, raised $62 million in a Series C financing from China investors (see story). Virogin has R&D facilities in Vancouver and Shanghai. Earlier this year, Virogin started a Phase I trial in Australia of its lead drug, VG161, an attenuated herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), that expresses cytokines to boost innate and adaptive immune responses inside the tumor. The C round was co-led by CMG-SDIC Capital and CDH Investments.  

BioShin Limited of Shanghai raised $60 million in a Series A financing to develop Biohaven's clinical portfolio of neurological drugs in China (see story). BioShin, a subsidiary of Biohaven, remains majority owned by Biohaven after the transaction. In Q4, BioShin will start a China/Korea Phase III trial of Nurtec™ ODT (rimegepant) for acute migraine. Also in Q4, it will begin a China arm of a global Phase III trial of troriluzole in Spinocerebellar Ataxia (SCA). The A round was led by OrbiMed.  

Sumgen Biotech of Hangzhou completed a $32 million Series B funding round to advance its portfolio of novel immunotherapy antibodies (see story). The round was led by Addor Capital and co-led by Cowin Capital and Sinowisdom Investment. The proceeds will be used to fund clinical trials of the company's pipeline of ten oncology mAbs and construction of an antibody production facility in Hangzhou. Also participating in the round were BOCOM International, Shanghai Haoshuo Investment and Dynamic Capital.  

Trials and Approvals

Junshi Biosciences (HK: 1877; SHA: 688180) of Shanghai stopped a China Phase III trial of its PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor early because it was effective in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) (see story). Tuoyi (toripalimab) met its primary endpoint of improvement in progression free survival. It was administered in combination with gemcitabine/cisplatin as a first-line treatment in patients with recurrent or metastatic forms of the disease. In 2018, Tuoyi was originally approved in China as a second-line treatment of metastatic melanoma.

Bioray Laboratories of Shanghai reported positive initial results from a test of its gene-edited CAR-T therapy (see story). The company uses gene editing to form a PD1-knockin CAR-T molecule, which it has administered to patients with relapsed/refractory B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The non-viral PD1 specific targeted CAR-T therapy is constructed by inserting a CAR cassette into a PD1 locus without using a virus, generating the CAR-T product in one step.

Shanghai's I-Mab (NSDQ: IMAB) reported China approval to conduct a Phase III trial of eftansomatropin as a once-weekly treatment for growth hormone deficiency in pediatric patients (PGHD) (see story). Eftansomatropin uses Genexine's (KOSDAQ: 095700) half-life extension hyFc® fusion technology for its long-acting delivery. Efficacy of weekly or biweekly dosing was comparable to the daily injected rhGH (genotropin). I-Mab acquired China rights to the candidate from Korea's Genexine.  

Apollomics, a novel US-China oncology company, was approved to start China Phase I trial of an E-selectin inhibitor in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (see story). China's NMPA has also accepted a Phase III bridging study of APL-106 (uproleselan) in combination with chemotherapy. Earlier this year, Apollomics acquired China rights to the candidate from GlycoMimetics (NSDQ: GLYC) of the US, which is conducting a Phase III trial of APL-106. Previously, Apollomics was known as CBT, the drug development spin-out of China-based cancer CRO Crown Biosciences.  

Disclosure: none.