Biopharma Financing Market Sees Low Activity This Year, Industry Insiders Remain Optimistic Amid Downturn

　　【Pharmaceutical Network Market AnalysisSince November 2023, many pharmaceutical companies, including Argo and AusperBio, have announced the completion of new rounds of financing, with some cases exceeding 100 million yuan in funding.
 

Recently, Argo Biopharma, a company focused on the development of siRNA (small interfering RNA) drugs, announced that it has completed a 300 million RMB A+ round of financing led by SDIC Capital, with participation from Huagai Capital, Yuanxi Haihe Fund, and existing shareholder Sanyi Innovation Investment. The proceeds from this round will be used to further advance the global development of four clinical pipelines, discover multiple preclinical drug candidate molecules, upgrade the modification technology platform and extracellular liver delivery technology platform, as well as enhance the construction of the company’s professional team.
 

AusperBio Announces Completion of RMB 100 Million Pre-A+ Round Financing on November 1st. This round of financing was led by the returning investors from the Pre-A round, with the funds completing USD settlement in the middle of this year. This financing will accelerate the global clinical trials of AHB-137, a chronic hepatitis B treatment under AusperBio, as well as the research and development of other Med-Oligo small nucleic acid innovative drugs using targeted delivery. Currently, AHB-137 is undergoing clinical trials simultaneously in multiple countries and regions, including New Zealand, China, and the United States.
 

Huichuang Medical recently announced the completion of an over 100-million-yuan Series B financing round, led by CAS Hicreate, with participation from Yida Capital, existing shareholder ClearSource Investment, and Daoyuan Capital. The proceeds will mainly be used to further advance the branding of the company's near-infrared (fNIRS) brain function imaging products and clinical trials for transcranial light modulation therapy in degenerative diseases. It is reported that Huichuang Medical focuses on research related to near-infrared brain function imaging and evaluation, providing multidimensional and quantitative brain function imaging solutions for the diagnosis and treatment of brain diseases. The company owns the first domestically produced NMPA-registered device with over 100 channels for near-infrared brain function imaging.
 

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Since the beginning of this year, the investment and financing market in the biopharmaceutical field has been in a low activity state overall, with both the number of equity investments and the total amount of financing declining. In terms of single financing amounts, the largest was the over 1.1 billion RMB in new funding announced by Xiantong Pharmaceuticals in July.
 

Analysis suggests that this is primarily due to the cooling of the capital market, coupled with the fading boom in the global biotech industry. The competitive landscape in the biotech field has become increasingly intense, with constant news of layoffs, pipeline cuts, and bankruptcies among startups within the industry.
 

However, some insiders pointed out that, overall, the number of financings in the pharmaceutical field has decreased this year, but not by a large margin. The characteristic of investment and financing in this field this year is: during 2021 or 2020 when pharmaceutical track investment was very popular, cases might mostly range from 100 to 150 million US dollars; now, they are in the range of 100 to 200 million US dollars.
 

Moreover, the industry is not particularly concerned about the current downturn and believes that there are still investment opportunities in pharmaceutical sub-sectors. Take the CXO sector as an example: since the fourth quarter of 2021, with a reduction in global innovative drug financing, companies in the CXO field have been impacted, leading to an overall cooling and stock price declines. However, from a long-term perspective, the industry views innovative drug R&D as an innovation-driven sector and the future direction of the pharmaceuticals industry. Therefore, given the backdrop of an aging population, rising consumer spending, and supportive policies, the innovative drug industry is expected to grow rapidly. As "enablers of the pharmaceutical industry," CXOs remain in favored investment tracks for both domestic and overseas investment institutions, with leading companies on this track having even more opportunities.
 

Disclaimer: In any case, the information or opinions expressed in this article do not constitute investment advice to any person.