“Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily”, March 5 (Researchers Zheng Bingxun, Qiu Menglin, He Yujia, Wang Feng) According to data from the Financial Federation Venture Capital Connect, there were 80 private equity financing incidents in the domestic healthcare sector in February 2024, a decrease of 27% from the previous month; the total amount of disclosed financing was about 4,066 billion yuan, a decrease of 42% from the previous month. ADC drug developer ProFoundBio (ProFoundBio) overcompleted Series B financing of 112 million US dollars, making it the highest-amount financing event disclosed in the domestic healthcare sector in February.

Globally, a total of 156 financing incidents occurred in the healthcare sector in February, with a total financing amount of 18.378 billion yuan. Compared with January, the number of investment and financing incidents decreased by 22% month-on-month, and the total amount of financing decreased by 21% month-on-month.

Investment and financing situation by sector

domestically

Judging from investment and financing activity, the top 5 domestic capital investment directions in February were: biopharmaceuticals, medical devices, medical equipment, medical informatization, and third-party medical service agencies. Specifically, when it comes to segmented racing tracks, there is a high level of domestic attention on innovative drugs, consumables, medical equipment, AI-assisted diagnosis, and biotechnology.

globally

Globally, the direction of financial attention is basically the same as domestic. The top 5 concerns are biopharmaceuticals, medical informatization, medical devices, medical equipment, and third-party medical service agencies. The top segments include innovative drugs, consumables, medical software, and medical equipment.

Popular investment rounds

domestically

On the domestic side, Series A financing incident was the highest, accounting for about 40%; followed by strategic financing, accounting for nearly 33%. Judging from the amount disclosed, more capital flowed to the middle and late stages compared to last month; among them, Series B received the highest investment amount, nearly 1.5 billion yuan, accounting for nearly 37%; followed by Series C, which received an investment amount of about 1 billion yuan, accounting for nearly 25%.

globally

Globally, capital is more biased towards the early stages than last month. The A round series maintained the highest number of investment events, accounting for over 35%; followed by the Seed Angel Round, which accounted for about 25%. Judging from the disclosed amount, the C series had the highest overall financing amount, about 5.334 billion yuan; followed by the A series, with about 4.896 billion yuan.

Active investment and financing regions

Looking at active domestic investment regions, the top five popular regions remained Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Beijing, Guangdong, and Shanghai; with the exception of Zhejiang, which increased this month, activity declined markedly in all other regions.

Active investment institutions

The institutions with the highest number of investments in the healthcare sector in February were GV, MPM Capital, and Shenzhen Venture Capital. Areas covered by the investment include innovative medicines, specialty hospitals or clinics, medical software, chemical pharmaceuticals, AI+ pharmaceuticals, consumables, etc.

This month's IPO popularity review

In February, IPOs in the domestic healthcare sector continued to be low. Only two companies, Huayang Intelligence (301502.SZ) and Haisheng Pharmaceutical (870656.BJ), were listed in A-shares this month.

The pharmaceutical companies that accepted and submitted prospectuses on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Science and Technology Innovation Board and GEM in February are as follows:

This month's notable investment events

Pubang Biotech completed Series B financing of US$112 million

Pufang Biotech is a clinical-stage biomedical company focused on developing a new generation of macromolecular targeted anti-cancer drugs. Its product pipeline mainly includes antibody-conjugated drugs (ADCs) and other antibody-based treatment plans. The development pipeline currently disclosed by the company includes the ADC drug Rinatabart sesutecan (Rina-S, PRO1184) targeting folic acid receptor α (FRα), the ADC drug PRO1160 targeting CD70, the ADC drug PRO1107 targeting PTK7, and PRO1286, a dual-antibody ADC drug targeting two broad-spectrum solid tumors simultaneously.

On February 14, the company announced the completion of the excess Series B financing of US$112 million. The current round of financing was led by Ally Bridge Group. New investors include Nextech Invest, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Janus Henderson Investors, RA Capital Management, OrbiMed, Surveyors Capital, Medicxi, Continued support from Logos Capital, Octagon Capital, Piper Heartland Healthcare Capital and LifeSci Venture Partners, and existing investors, Lilly Asia Fund (LAV) and LYFE Capital (LYFE Capital). The funding is expected to accelerate development of its four main antibody-conjugated drug (ADC) product portfolios, including its key trial in developing the ADC therapy Rinatabart sesutecan (Rina-S) for ovarian cancer treatment.

Xinovi completed Series E financing of 700 million yuan

Established in 2017, Xinovi is a platform-based innovative pharmaceutical company with both scientific research strength and commercialization capabilities. Based on the three independent and innovative technology platforms of targeted therapy, anti-infection, and PROTAC, Xinovi has formed innovative drug pipelines such as BLI inhibitors, EZH2 inhibitors, HurAT1 inhibitors, and next-generation ADCs, covering diseases such as tumors, anti-infection, and metabolism. At present, the company has several products in the clinical development stage.

On February 20, the company announced the completion of Series E financing of 700 million yuan. This round of financing was jointly led by Tencent Investment and Guoxin Investment. Many well-known institutions such as Jinan Production Development, Huakong Investment, Guangdong Development Capital, Chenhai Capital, Pudong Venture Capital, and Zhuopu Capital participated. The old shareholder Zhengxin Valley Capital continued to support it, and Xingyuan Zhitong acted as the exclusive financial advisor for this round of financing.

Tianjing Biotech received more than 500 million yuan in C1 round of investment

Tianjing Biotech was founded in June 2019 and settled in the pharmaceutical port town of Qiantang New Area of Hangzhou. It aims to build China's leading biopharmaceutical company integrating R&D, production, licensing and product sales, and establish macromolecular antibody drug discovery, pharmaceutical process development, technology transfer, production, pre-clinical research and clinical research teams.

On February 8, the company announced that it had reached an agreement with I-Mab, a NASDAQ listed company, to integrate and restructure all of I-Mab's business, team and pipelines with the company's existing pipelines and assets. At the same time, the company also announced the completion of the C1 round of financing of over 500 million yuan. This round of financing was jointly invested by Tailong Investment, Zhejiang “4+1" Biomedical and High-end Equipment Industry Fund, I-Mab, Hangzhou Qiantang Chengfa Technology Service Co., Ltd., Bruggemoon Limited, and Ningbo Kaiyuan Hanrun Capital. Haoyue Capital acted as the sole financial advisor for this transaction.

Relevant policies and important events worth paying attention to this month

Announcement No. 1 on the renewal of the national procurement contract for artificial joints announced

On February 23, 2024, the Joint Procurement Office issued the “Notice on Continued Procurement at the Expiration of the Concentrated Volume Purchase Agreement for Artificial Joints (No. 1)”, and the renewal of the national procurement contract for artificial joints was officially launched. This is the second national-level centralized volume procurement in the field of artificial joints after the first domestic procurement in 2021-H2. All companies re-bid. The current procurement cycle is 3 years. Referring to the past schedule of national procurement of medical consumables, some agencies expect Notice No. 2 (further clarifying collection rules and reporting conditions) to be announced around the beginning of April, and the final winning bid results may be announced before the end of April.

“Guidelines for Non-clinical Research on Enzyme Replacement Therapy Drugs for Rare Diseases (Trial)” released

On February 23, the Drug Review Center of the State Drug Administration issued the “Guidelines for Non-clinical Research on Enzyme Replacement Therapy Drugs for Rare Diseases (Trial)”, which can further scientifically guide and standardize the non-clinical research and evaluation of enzyme replacement therapy drugs for rare diseases and promote the development of drugs for rare diseases. These guidelines apply to ERT drugs for the treatment of lysosomal storage disease and other rare diseases caused by congenital metabolic abnormalities. Research guidance requirements are explained in terms of non-clinical study design considerations, test subjects, pharmacodynamics studies, pharmacokinetics, toxicology, and non-clinical studies supporting subsequent clinical trials and marketing.

Guangzhou: Support innovative drug development and launch new clinical phase III drug projects with financial support of up to 10 million yuan

On February 22, the General Office of the Guangzhou Municipal People's Government recently issued “Certain Policies and Measures to Promote High-Quality Development of the Biomedical Industry in Guangzhou”. Among them, it is mentioned that it supports research and development of innovative drugs. Key core technical research projects in the pre-clinical research stage of new drugs are supported by merit in the municipal science and technology plan in the form of major science and technology projects. Clinical trial research is supported in stages for self-developed and transformed biological products, Class 1 traditional Chinese medicines, Class 2 high-end traditional Chinese medicines, Class 1 chemicals, and Class 2 high-end chemicals (classification and definition rules for innovative drugs, adjusted in due course according to the drug registration classification standards issued by the State Drug Administration). New drug projects for newly initiated phase I, II, and III clinical research were awarded funding of up to 3 million yuan, 5 million yuan and 10 million yuan respectively. Each year, a single enterprise receives up to 100 million yuan in clinical trial funding.

A monthly dose of diet pills has begun clinical trials in China, which can reduce weight by 14.5% in three months

According to the drug clinical trial registration and information disclosure platform of the State Drug Administration, on February 21, the multinational pharmaceutical company Amjin announced a phase 1 study on the diet drug AMG 133. AMG 133 is in the same GLP-1 class as the current star diet pills simeglutide (Novo Nordisk) and tirpotide (Eli Lilai). This phase 1 trial is AMG 133's first domestic study of the Chinese population. According to the Lilac Garden Insight database, the drug was first declared for clinical use in China in September 2023, approved in November, and recently initiated clinical trials. Furthermore, AMG 133 is currently in Phase 2 clinical trials abroad. Currently, Amgen is exploring the use of higher doses of AMG 133 to reduce patients' body weight in phase 2 clinical trials, then use lower doses of AMG 133 or less frequently to maintain weight loss. The company also expects to obtain 52-week data from the Phase 2 trial by the end of 2024. Currently, among similar products, only oral simeglutide has been approved at home and abroad to treat type 2 diabetes. Its weight loss indications are in phase 3 clinical trials at home and abroad. Furthermore, the fastest progressing one is Eli Lilly's Orforglipron, which is progressing in phase 3 clinical trials at home and abroad in terms of type 2 diabetes and weight loss indications.

The release of a major policy once again favors payment terminals for innovative drugs

On February 5, the National Health Insurance Administration issued a draft for comments on the “Notice on Establishing a Initial Price Formation Mechanism for Newly Launched Chemicals to Encourage High Quality Innovation” (hereinafter referred to as the “Draft for Comments”). The submission of the “Draft for Solicitation of Comments” may clarify, institutionalize, and index support for true innovation. First, the “Draft for Solicitation of Comments” clarifies the direction of price support for innovative drugs, that is, pharmaceutical innovation at a higher level, higher quality, more urgently needed, and more reliable. Second, the dimensions of evaluating the innovative quality of new drugs have been clarified, and the innovativeness of newly marketed drugs may be evaluated in terms of the pharmaceutical material basis (new targets, new mechanisms, new lead compounds, breakthrough changes in administration routes, use of old drugs for new indications, etc.), clinical value (breakthrough treatments, clinically deficient drugs), and the strength of evidence-based evidence (effective design, randomized controlled trials). Furthermore, for highly innovative drugs, the “Draft for Solicitation of Comments” proposes pricing support measures during the price stabilization period. A stable period of 1 to 5 years for the initial price of newly launched drugs with high and medium self-evaluation points is given. Drugs are not included in the scope of centralized volume procurement during the stabilization period, and in principle, no price restraint measures are taken (except in situations where pharmaceutical companies actively reduce prices or form new prices due to reasons such as entry into the medical insurance catalogue, or where inflated price space must be eliminated according to regulations due to serious or particularly serious untrustworthy price behavior).

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