Healthcare Industry Weekly Report: 12 Domestic and 42 Global Financing Deals in the Week of July 8, 2024

【mRNA Drugs】ASOcura, located in Suzhou Industrial Park, is the first company in China to develop antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) drugs targeting RNA splicing and RNA editing. The company possesses several of the latest international ASO technologies. Multiple projects are currently underway, with significant progress made in drug development for diseases such as DMD (Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy) and SCA3 (Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 3). The founder of the company, Dr. Yimin Hua, is a world-leading scientist in the field of ASO drugs and a principal inventor of Nusinersen (marketed as Spinraza), the most globally sold small nucleic acid drug. Building on existing technologies, the company has optimized and upgraded its capabilities, inventing new drug development technologies centered around ASOs, including 5D-ASO, a next-generation intervention for RNA splicing, and ANISPR, a novel ASO-induced RNA editing technology.

【Investor】SDIC Venture, Herui Venture Capital

【Live Bacteria Drugs】Guangzhou Colony Biotechnology Co., Ltd. is an innovative biotechnology company in China that focuses on the commercialization of microbial resources. It has been awarded the title of National High-tech Enterprise and owns an internationally leading microbial discovery and industrialization platform. The company is committed to discovering, preserving, and identifying new microbial diversity resources with development potential through advanced international microbial isolation and cultivation technologies. Its established strain resource library has collected and preserved more than 270,000 functional strains to date. Based on in-depth microbiome research and data mining, the company conducts high-throughput screening for bioactive functional microorganisms and their metabolites to address urgent and critical societal market needs (biopharmaceuticals, bioagriculture, microbial proteins). In collaboration with partners, it provides customers with top-tier microbial products and solutions.

【Investor】SDIC Julive

【Animal Model】Guangzhou Mingxun Biotechnology Co., Ltd., located in the Huangpu District of Guangzhou, is one of the first batch of incubated enterprises from Bioland Laboratory. The core members of the company's R&D team all come from well-known research institutions in China, possessing advanced technical expertise and R&D experience. The company’s founder and chief scientist, Dr. Guangming Wu, has been engaged in research work related to embryonic development and genetics at prestigious research institutions in the United States and Germany since 1995, achieving remarkable results and contributions in embryo manipulation. In 2019, he was recruited back to China. Guangzhou Mingxun Biotechnology Co., Ltd. is committed to the development and application of the world's most advanced next-generation animal model technology (TurboMice™ Tetraploid Compensation Technology) and is the world’s first company to successfully bring tetraploid technology from the laboratory to industrial application. TurboMice™ technology overcomes the technical challenges of long mouse modeling cycles and low success rates for complex models. Through the industrialization of TurboMice™ technology, the company can provide high-end genetically engineered mouse products and services to life science research teams globally, including universities, research institutes, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies.

【Investors】Guangzhou Finance Holdings

【Cancer Targeted Drugs】Anbo Biotech is a clinical-stage biotech company designing and developing precision oncology therapies to improve patients' lives. Anbo, a spin-off from Taiwan’s most prestigious medical research institution—the National Health Research Institutes—focuses on fundamental research and clinical development, committed to creating groundbreaking science that effectively transforms patients' lives. Currently, Anbo Biotech's main pipeline drugs under development include the following three: ABT-101, an oral tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) targeting HER2 exon 20 insertion (e20i) mutations in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients—a group currently lacking treatment options. ABT-101 demonstrates superior therapeutic potential and excellent safety profiles compared to competitors, addressing the urgent medical need for drugs targeting HER2 exon 20 insertion (e20i) mutations in cancers. Anbo Biotech is also developing second-generation KRAS inhibitors to combat the growing emergence of novel drug resistance mutations observed in patients treated with Sotorasib® and Adagrasib®, which render these treatments ineffective. ABT-202, a second-generation KRAS inhibitor, was developed using ABT's proprietary covalent drug design and structural biology platform, targeting oncogenic KRAS mutations (KRAS G12D, G12V) in non-small cell lung cancer and other cancers. ABT-301 is a small-molecule histone deacetylase inhibitor. Administration of this class of inhibitors promotes tumor suppressor gene expression, modulates cancer cell growth, arrests cell proliferation, induces differentiation, and facilitates apoptosis, ultimately suppressing tumor cell growth and achieving anti-cancer effects. Preclinical data also indicate that ABT-301 shows strong therapeutic competitiveness in treating most solid tumors compared to competing drugs.

【Investor】Undisclosed

【Animal Vaccines】Dingchi Biotech, established in 2016, possesses advanced bioproduct manufacturing technology and is a domestic leader in subunit vaccine development, viral vector vaccine development, novel adjuvant development, and large-scale suspension cell culture technology. The company benchmarks itself against top international animal health enterprises, aiming to master core technologies, become an independent R&D entity, and develop best-in-class and first-in-class veterinary biologics, achieving an integration of research, production, sales, and service. Dingchi Biotech has entered into technical collaborations involving technology transfer or joint applications for new veterinary drug certificates with nearly 20 biopharmaceutical companies in China.

【Investor】Zhuji JKC You Equity Fund

【Recombinant Protein】Hunan Nuohexin Biotechnology Co., Ltd. is a company specializing in the research of plant-based recombinant protein expression technology and product development, integrating production, research and development, sales, and services. It possesses high-quality plant-based protein production and purification processes, and can optimize protein expression systems based on the characteristics of the target protein. The company is capable of producing products including monoclonal antibodies, industrial enzymes, cell growth factors, collagen, antigens, and more. It has developed a variety of research antibodies and cosmetic raw materials, and has filed for and been granted multiple patents.

【Investor】Guangdong Sanze Venture Capital

【Medical Imaging Equipment】Neusoft Medical Systems Co., Ltd. was established in 1998, with its headquarters located in Shenyang, Liaoning. The company positions itself as a comprehensive solution provider for clinical diagnosis and treatment based on imaging equipment. It operates four major business lines: digital medical diagnostic and treatment equipment, medical equipment and medical imaging data service platforms, equipment services and training, and in vitro diagnostic devices and reagents. In recent years, Neusoft Medical has successively launched China's first 256-slice 80mm wide-body spectral CT, China's first 512-slice panoramic multi-modal CT, the rail-free suspended dual-center seven-axis DSA, and the 1.5T superconducting magnetic resonance system, leading China-produced medical equipment to continuously achieve excellence and high-end innovation. To date, the company’s products have been sold to more than 110 countries and regions worldwide, with a cumulative installation base of over 42,000 units. To fully meet global customer needs, the company has set up subsidiaries in nine countries including the United States, Germany, the United Arab Emirates, Russia, Brazil, Peru, Kenya, Thailand, and South Korea, and established a representative office in Vietnam. Additionally, the company places high importance on equipment services and customer experience, with 25 provincial service teams and 12 regional spare parts centers in the Chinese market, as well as 14 customer service teams, 11 spare parts centers, and two training centers in international markets.

【Investor】China General Technology Group, China State-Owned Enterprise Mixed-Ownership Reform Fund

【Laser Surgery System】Guangzhou Xinzhu Medical Technology Co., Ltd. is a high-tech enterprise in the medical technology field. The company is committed to the healthcare sector, focusing on laser medical services. By deeply exploring user needs for laser technology in clinical diagnosis and treatment, it continuously investigates the clinical value of laser technology in minimally invasive precision diagnosis and treatment. The company innovates and develops iterative laser treatment, monitoring, and diagnostic product series along with complementary auxiliary functional instruments. After years of technical research, the company has overcome various laser technology bottlenecks, mastered core key technologies, and developed world-leading laser medical products. It will continue to strive for innovation to provide users with intelligent precision minimally invasive laser diagnosis and treatment solutions, better serving the precision medicine industry. The company has established collaborative industry-university-research partnerships with multiple universities and scientific research institutes. Through continuous exploration and innovative research, it has obtained more than thirty patents, software copyrights, trademarks, and other intellectual properties, owning several core technologies.

【Investor】Guangzhou Jinkong Fund

【Molecular Diagnostic Reagents】Beijing Gezhi Boya Biotechnology Co., Ltd., jointly established by management and scientific researchers from Tsinghua University, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing Life Science Institute, Huazhong Agricultural University, and other academic and research institutions, as well as leading enterprises in high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatics technology services, has received substantial financial support. The company focuses on the development and utilization of high-throughput omics big data analysis and related software, building an intelligent omics experimentation and gene testing technology analysis platform. It is committed to providing cutting-edge genetic testing products and high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatics technical services and consulting for scientific research.

【Investor】PwC Capital

【AD Diagnosis】Tianjin Hongyutai Biotechnology Co., Ltd. mainly engages in the research, production, and sales of medical diagnostic reagents such as immunomagnetic particle acridine ester chemiluminescence, POCT, and molecular diagnostics. The company focuses on early screening for tumors, early screening for Alzheimer's disease, respiratory diseases, intestinal diseases, and parasitic disease testing projects, developing differentiated and innovative projects within the industry. It also maintains close ties with the Internet, innovating in the "Internet+" field, using Internet technology to drive R&D and production, integrating personnel, materials, processes, and data through the Internet to achieve sustainable and healthy development.

【Investor】Undisclosed

【Exoskeleton Technology】Shanghai Aoshar Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd., headquartered in Shanghai, is a robotics technology company based on an exoskeleton technology platform. The company's exoskeletons mainly target the B-end industrial market, providing exoskeleton robot products and supporting solutions. The company has reached cooperation intentions with several internationally renowned automobile brands, large international airports, industrial logistics, and other enterprises. Aoshar Intelligent is one of the few companies in China that can independently research and develop and master core technologies in the field of exoskeleton robots. The company is committed to building an exoskeleton robot technology platform, breaking down product development to the chip level. All core components have applied for patents, without any foreign "chokepoint" core components. This lays a solid foundation for future product mass production cost reduction and sustainable development.

【Investor】Dunhong Asset

【Probiotics and Their Derivatives】Wekin Probiotics (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. is a national high-tech enterprise specializing in the research, development, production, and application of probiotics and fermented food strains based on microbiomics. It provides highly active probiotic powders, fermented food strains, microbial products, and application solutions for fields such as dietary supplements, dairy products, food, precision medicine, and daily chemical products. The company boasts strong R&D capabilities and scientific research background, establishing China’s professional probiotic research institute within an enterprise, with an academician workstation and a postdoctoral research workstation. The company has received numerous honors, including being recognized as a second-batch national specialized and new "little giant" enterprise, a national "Ten Thousand Talents Plan" talent enterprise, a national high-tech enterprise, a national green factory, a Jiangsu Province technology little giant, a Jiangsu Province engineering technology research center, and a Suzhou unicorn cultivation enterprise. It has applied for over 200 invention patents, conducted more than 60 clinical studies on bacterial strains, published over a hundred scientific research papers in domestic and international core journals, and undertaken four national key R&D projects. The company consistently adheres to quality and technology as its main development path, upholding that quality is the lifeblood of Wekin and the foundation of its growth. Currently, the company has obtained production licenses for seven major categories of more than 30 products, including probiotic powders, probiotic preparations, dietary supplements, fermented food strains, probiotic fermentation liquids, probiotic derivatives, and microbial feed additives. It has passed multiple international certifications, such as cGMP, GMP, HACCP, ISO22000, FSSC22000, KOSHER, HALAL, and organic certification. Its products comply with quality standards from China's SAMR, the U.S. FDA, and the EU's EFSA. The company possesses the most comprehensive probiotic production certification qualifications both domestically and internationally, and its products have been exported to over 80 countries and regions worldwide.

【Investor】SDIC Fund Management, China Merchants Capital, GDVC