Over 30 Pharma Companies Raise $16.8 Billion in October 2024 Financing Round

In October 2024, more than 30 pharmaceutical companies worldwide completed a new round of financing, with a total amount exceeding 12 billion RMB.

Trend Chart of Investment and Financing in the Pharmaceutical Field in 2024
Source of the image: PharmaDJ Enterprise Edition - Investment Landscape Database

Table 1 Global Investment and Financing Events in October 2024

Source: YAOZHI Data Enterprise Edition - Investment Landscape Database
Note: The exchange rates involved in the table are calculated based on the exchange rate at the time of financing completion.

Among them, several domestic companies completed billion-yuan financing in October.

XIUSHI

On October 8, XIUSHI announced the completion of a nearly 100-million-yuan Pre-A round of financing. This round was led by Chuangjing Capital, with participation from Huatai Zijin, Jinyu Maowu, and Xiaofanzhuo Venture Capital. The funds will mainly be used to further invest in the construction of the company’s unique innovative peptide biosynthesis technology platform and diversified pipeline research and development, complete and expand the compliant peptide drug production line, as well as accelerate the commercialization of the company’s advanced technologies and products both domestically and internationally.

XIUSHI was founded in 2020, providing industry partners with a novel and highly attractive bio-synthesis solution for peptide drugs. It has achieved the industrialization of various bio-synthesized peptide products, offering capacity-building and cost advantages that surpass current traditional biological and chemical synthesis methods, and has secured cooperation orders from numerous well-known pharmaceutical companies both domestically and internationally.

Akeso

On October 13, Akeso announced that it had entered into a placement agreement with Morgan Stanley, the placing agent, on October 11. Under the agreement, Akeso will place a total of 31.7 million shares at a price of HK$61.28 per share to no fewer than six placees. After the completion of the placement, Akeso successfully secured financing of HK$1.942 billion. The final actual subscribing investment institutions are mainly international long-term funds and professional healthcare funds.

Akeso stated that 70% of the proceeds from this fundraising will be used to accelerate the clinical development of the company’s self-developed new drugs on a global scale, mainly for core products; 20% will be allocated for the commercialization of already approved products, and 10% for general corporate purposes.

iRegene

On October 14, iRegene announced the completion of a Series B financing round exceeding 100 million yuan. This round was jointly led by Ceyuan Capital and Guosheng Capital, with participation from well-known industry investment institutions and Wuhan Optics Valley Industrial Investment. Easy Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor to iRegene in this financing round.

The proceeds from this round of financing will be used to accelerate the advancement of the company's Parkinson's disease treatment products NouvNeu001/NouvNeu003 and ophthalmic treatment product NouvSight001 in clinical trials in both China and the United States. Additionally, it will strengthen the development of multiple innovative pipelines and enhance the company’s clinical capabilities, as well as increase efforts in industrialization.

TenNor Therapeutics

On October 16, TenNor Therapeutics announced the completion of the first closing of its Series E financing round, raising over 300 million RMB. This round was co-led by Zhongshan Venture Capital, under Zhongshan Investment Holdings, and the AMR Action Fund (AMR Fund). The proceeds will support the company’s core new drug development pipeline, including late-stage clinical trials and commercialization of TNP-2198, a new drug candidate for treating Helicobacter pylori infections, and TNP-2092, a new drug candidate for treating infections associated with implanted medical devices.

TenNor Therapeutics focuses on the research and development of new drugs in the field of bacterial infections and microbiota metabolism-related diseases. TNP-2198, its first-in-class new drug for treating Helicobacter pylori infection, has completed Phase III clinical trials, and several other drug candidates under development have also entered the late-stage clinical trial phase.

Lixi Pharmaceuticals

On October 18, Limin Pharmaceuticals announced the successful completion of a 300 million yuan C1 round of financing. This round was led by China Biologic Products, a well-known domestic industrial player, with participation from Pudong Venture Capital and Zhangjiang Haoheng. Existing shareholders Qiming Venture Partners and Shanghai BioPharm Fund also joined the round, with Zhong Lun serving as the legal advisor for this financing.

In addition, Lixun Pharmaceuticals has initiated the C2 round of financing. The funds raised will be mainly used to accelerate the clinical progress of the company’s pipeline, especially LM-302 and LM-108, and to support the company's self-developed antibody discovery platform, next-generation ADC technology platform, and bispecific antibody technology platform, continuously generating innovative pipelines with international competitiveness.

Xuanjing Bio

On October 21, Xuanjing Bio announced the completion of an angel+ round of financing exceeding RMB 100 million. This round was co-led by Shanghai Science Investment and Qihang Investment, with participation from Xincheng Fund, Jinhua River United Runpu, Yuanxi Haihe, among others. Existing shareholder Sanyi Innovation Investment also increased its investment. The proceeds will primarily be used for the clinical research of the company’s first siRNA drug, RG002C0106, the advancement of multiple preclinical pipelines, as well as the rapid development of non-liver tissue in vivo delivery technology and corresponding pipelines.

Currently, XIUSHI has achieved a series of key milestone advancements, including: (i) establishing the world’s second-generation GalNAc conjugation delivery technology; (ii) the preclinical studies of its leading pipeline RG002C0106 have demonstrated excellent efficacy and safety, with clinical trials approved in both China and Australia, and patient enrollment has been initiated, positioning it to potentially become the world's first-in-class small nucleic acid drug; (iii) developing multiple non-liver tissue delivery technologies based on various proprietary strategies, among which the renal tissue delivery technology is the world’s first and only one to complete non-human primate trial validation, achieving over 70% inhibition efficiency.

Shize Bio

On October 21, Shize Bio announced the completion of a market-driven financing round exceeding RMB 100 million in its Series B1. This round was led by Tylon/Taikun Capital, with co-investments from Qisheng Capital and Tianhui Capital. Existing shareholders, including Frees Fund, Qiming Venture Partners, Lilly Asia Ventures, and Sequoia China, also participated in the follow-up investment. The proceeds will be used to enhance Shize Bio's clinical-grade iPS-derived cell therapy pipeline for neurological diseases, further clinical research, and advance multiple registration clinical trials.

It is reported that Shize Bio has completed multiple cases of clinical-grade iPS-derived midbrain dopaminergic neural precursor cell transplantation via bilateral stereotactic injection into the putamen of the striatum in collaboration with partner hospitals. These transplants are aimed at treating patients with moderate to severe or severe Parkinson's disease. The longest follow-up period has exceeded nine months, and so far, no cell therapy-related adverse events have occurred. Moreover, key efficacy indicators, such as "on-off" periods and MDS-UPDRS scores, have shown significant improvement trends in several patients. The positive outcomes from Shize Bio’s ongoing human clinical research provide important groundwork and critical validation for further clinical trials.

Zedman

On October 23, Zedman announced the completion of a nearly 100-million-yuan A+ round of financing. This round of financing was led by Qingdao Guoxin, with existing shareholders Bennuo Capital, Hankang Capital, and Beida Fund continuing to increase their investments. WinX Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor for this round consecutively. The funds raised from this round of financing will be mainly used to accelerate the research and development, clinical studies, and commercial promotion of products related to the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) target for the treatment of multiple autoimmune inflammatory diseases.

Zedman Pharmaceuticals is a global innovative drug research and development company focusing on the development of therapeutic drugs for autoimmune inflammatory diseases related to the AhR target. Zedman stated that in the future, it will continue to accelerate the R&D and commercialization process and promote innovative therapies for related autoimmune inflammatory diseases.

Hengjing Bio

On October 30, Hengjing Bio announced the completion of approximately 250 million yuan in Series A and Series A+ financing. Among this, the Series A institutional investor was Zhangjiang Lingyi from Shanghai; the Series A+ round was mainly comprised of additional investments from existing shareholders and self-raised funds from the founding team. The proceeds will be primarily used for product clinical research, production project construction, and daily operations.

Hengjing Biotech, founded in 2021, focuses on the industrialization of biosimilars, bioinnovative drugs, and biologics, represented by insulin and GLP-1 receptor agonists. In addition, Hengjing Biotech is advancing the development of two bioinnovative drugs, which will be used for skin and muscle wound repair treatment and respiratory disease treatment, respectively. At this stage, Hengjing Biotech has completed the research and development of more than 10 varieties that are about to be put into production, including various types of insulin, GLP-1 drugs and their active pharmaceutical ingredients, as well as a variety of key tool enzymes used in biopharmaceuticals and vaccine production.

Editor: Mu Mian

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