Suzhou-Based GeneQuantum Strikes $13 Billion Global Deal, Setting New Record for Chinese Biopharma Outbound Licensing

On January 24, 2025, Genequantum Medicine held a major business cooperation signing ceremony at its R&D headquarters in Suzhou. At the event, Genequantum Medicine globally launched iDiscovery, its world-leading and highly anticipated intelligent automated development system for bioconjugate drugs. Meanwhile, Genequantum Medicine also signed significant business cooperation agreements with Biohaven (ticker: BHVN), a pharmaceutical company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and AimedBio, a leading innovative biotechnology enterprise in South Korea.

The collaboration includes an exclusive global license for the development and commercialization of GQ1011, a first-in-class antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) from Genequantum Medicine, as well as licensing of its innovative core bioconjugation platform technology, “empowering” partners in the United States and South Korea to innovate ADC drugs targeting a total of 21 antigens. The total value of this major strategic business partnership exceeds $13 billion, setting a new high for the recent wave of Chinese biopharmaceutical companies expanding overseas and establishing a new record for transaction volume. Leaders from Suzhou City, Wuzhong District, Wuzhong Economic and Technological Development Zone, relevant collaborating parties, and selected industry guests attended the event.

Genequantum Medicine, rooted in Suzhou, has remained dedicated for eleven years to the development of next-generation bioconjugate drugs, and has independently developed the internationally leading iLDC platform through differentiated, cross-disciplinary innovation.^®and iGDC^®The technological platform has overcome existing industry limitations and achieved an iteration of the development and production models for ADC pharmaceuticals. The flagship pipeline product GQ1005, empowered by these core technologies, has initiated Phase III clinical trials. It is poised to provide society in the near future with a blockbuster, foundational national drug that offers high safety, significant efficacy, affordability, and accessibility.

By integrating internationally leading conjugation technologies, intelligent manufacturing, and information technology, Genequantum Medicine has successfully developed iDiscovery, the world’s highest-throughput intelligent automated discovery system for bioconjugated drugs. Capable of producing over 1,000 high-quality XDC samples per day, the system leverages patient-derived organoid disease models to enable high-throughput evaluation of drug activity and precise, rapid screening of candidate drugs. The iDiscovery system significantly enhances the success rate of clinical translation, shortening the traditional ADC drug screening and discovery cycle by 70% and reducing R&D costs by 90%. Built on this disruptive innovation platform, it is expected to yield dozens of innovative drugs annually to address various major clinical conditions.

Genequantum and AimedBio Enter into a Multi-Target Innovative ADC Development Collaboration Agreement Licensed with Conjugation Platform Technology. In the early stage, the two parties established a new model of international cooperative innovation in the development of first-in-class FGFR3-targeting ADC drugs. This collaboration marks AimedBio’s effort to leverage Genequantum’s core technologies across more innovative targets and disease areas, further expanding the scope of their partnership.

Genequantum Medicine and Biohaven (NYSE: BHVN) have signed two strategic collaboration agreements. Under the first agreement, Biohaven will obtain global development and commercialization rights to a first-in-class FGFR3-targeting antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) co-developed by Genequantum Medicine and AimedBio.

The second agreement licenses Genequantum’s core conjugation technology, empowering Biohaven and its partner Merus to develop innovative ADC drugs targeting 18 specific targets over the next five years.

Ding Lixin, Vice Chairman of the Suzhou Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and Secretary of the Wuzhong District Committee of the Communist Party of China, stated: “Biopharmaceuticals are the ‘No. 1 Industry’ that Suzhou is committed to building, and one of the core industries strategically prioritized by Wuzhong District. In recent years, Wuzhong has gathered more than 700 companies across the biopharmaceutical industrial chain, forming a complete value chain spanning drug development, pilot-scale clinical trials, and large-scale commercial manufacturing. Currently, we are implementing the Biopharmaceutical Enhancement Plan with greater intensity, aiming to cluster over 1,000 enterprises along the supply chain, achieve a leapfrog upgrade in industrial capability, and accelerate our emergence as an innovation hub in the Yangtze River Delta region with comprehensive pharmaceutical categories and robust integrated R&D capabilities. The signing of this major business cooperation agreement between Genequantum Medicine (Suzhou) Co. Ltd, Biohaven (a pharmaceutical company listed on the New York Stock Exchange), and AimedBio (a leading innovative biotechnology enterprise from South Korea) not only sets a new industry high in transaction value but also demonstrates strong collaborative vitality through the significant number of targeted therapeutic agents involved. This will undoubtedly propel Genequantum Medicine to a new level of development and greatly boost confidence within the biopharmaceutical sector. We hope that Genequantum Medicine will take this signing as a new starting point, further leverage its innovation advantages, actively apply cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data to empower the research and development of antibody-drug conjugates, and make greater contributions to the development of anti-tumor drugs. We will consistently uphold the service philosophy of ‘responding promptly to needs while avoiding unnecessary interference,’ providing the utmost sincerity, effort, and optimal support to fully assist enterprises in improving quality and efficiency, and achieving robust growth.”

At the signing ceremony, Dr. Qin Gang, Founder and Chairman of Genequantum Medicine, stated, “The three collaborations signed today not only represent another significant achievement in the out-licensing of our innovative products, but also mark major progress in our iDiscovery platform—a high-throughput preparation and screening platform for XDCs—and our innovation-enabled strategy, which we have been diligently building in recent years. In the rapidly evolving field of XDC drug development, Genequantum’s proprietary iDiscovery platform has achieved high-throughput preparation and screening of site-specific conjugated drugs for the first time. This advances conjugate drug discovery from a ‘by design’ approach to a ‘by screening’ model, significantly improving the efficiency and success rate of ADC drug discovery, and is poised to transform the innovation ecosystem for conjugate therapeutics, exemplified by ADCs. We are delighted to renew our partnerships with Biohaven and AimedBio, and this also signals the acceleration of numerous ongoing international business collaborations. Changes in the global political and economic landscape cannot alter the overarching trend of close worldwide cooperation in the biopharmaceutical sector. Rooted in China, Genequantum is committed to exploring disruptive technologies and continuously empowering the global healthcare industry through innovative therapies and technologies, fostering a collaborative ecosystem. We look forward to working hand in hand with global industry peers to leverage innovative technologies for the development of conjugate drugs with superior quality, enhanced efficacy, and wider safety margins, ultimately benefiting patients worldwide.”

Bruce Car, CSO of Biohaven, stated: “Genequantum’s innovative site-specific enzyme conjugation technology endows ADC drugs with superior efficacy and safety, bringing new therapeutic hope to patients with various solid tumors and addressing unmet clinical needs. We firmly believe that Genequantum’s industry-leading iDiscovery platform will redefine and spearhead the development of next-generation ADC therapies, ushering in a new chapter in treatment.”

Nam-Gu Her, CEO of AimedBio, stated, “Genequantum Medicine’s iDiscovery platform has garnered significant industry attention for its differentiation and innovation, while AimedBio boasts profound technical expertise and strong capabilities in target discovery and antibody development. We are confident that through this deepened collaboration, AimedBio will make solid strides in the field of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), bringing more innovative therapeutic options to patients worldwide.”

Genequantum is an innovative biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Suzhou and serving the global market. As one of the pioneers globally dedicated to developing antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) using enzyme-mediated site-specific conjugation technology, Genequantum has established a comprehensive underlying conjugation technology platform, iLDC.^®and iGDC^®, offering end-to-end solutions for various conjugated drugs, from molecular design to commercial-scale manufacturing. Leveraging this technology platform, multiple innovative ADC candidates in clinical development have been successfully advanced. ADCs enabled by Genequantum’s conjugation technology demonstrate generational advantages in process efficiency, product quality, and stability both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, the intelligent conjugation process is seamlessly integrated into antibody manufacturing workflows, significantly reducing overall commercial production costs. Genequantum Medicine is committed to “empowering” the global development of diverse bioconjugate therapeutics, fostering a comprehensive ecosystem through collaboration and mutual success. For more information, please visit:www.genequantum.com