Zhiyuan Messenger Files IPO Prospectus: Pioneering mRNA Innovation Across 4 Therapeutic Areas with 12 Pipeline Programs

The current fervor in the field of mRNA technology speaks for itself.

In 2018, Moderna, a biotechnology company exploring mRNA technology, achieved the largest IPO in the history of the biotech sector. In 2019, mRNA technology was selected by MIT Technology Review as one of the “10 Breakthrough Technologies” of the year. In 2020, leveraging its significant advantage in development timelines, mRNA vaccines shone brightly in the race for COVID-19 vaccine development and became widely known to the general public.

Recently, a conversation between the world’s new richest person, Elon Musk, and Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Axel Springer, Europe’s largest digital publisher, has gone viral across major short-video platforms and WeChat official accounts, pointing out“mRNA is the future of medicine”—mRNA technology has once again captured the spotlight, with public enthusiasm reaching new heights.

As the most fertile ground for pharmaceutical investment in the post-pandemic era, China has kept pace with the rapid adoption of mRNA, an emerging technology. Driven by the vast growth potential of the Chinese market, ethnic Chinese professionals and returnees possessing cutting-edge expertise are flocking back to the country—either launching startups or strategically targeting the Chinese market with tailored initiatives.

Zhiyuan Messenger is one of them. It is understood that the company’s R&D team originates from the original technical team of Moderna, a giant in mRNA technology. Furthermore, Dr. Tong Haoxuan, the company’s founder, was involved in the entire operational process of Moderna, from its early incubation stage to its public listing.

Based on its ASO and LNP delivery technology platforms, Zhiyuan Messenger has currently developed 12 product pipelines,The research covers a variety of diseases, including neurofibromatosis, cystic fibrosis, head and neck cancer, AIDS, hepatitis B, and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), with research directions spanning multiple fields such as oncology, infectious diseases, rare diseases, and chronic diseases.In this era of rapid mRNA development, Zhiyuan Messenger aims to leverage the dual advantages of the Chinese and U.S. markets to carve out its own niche.

Based on recognition of the Zhiyuan Messenger team and its future development prospects, multiple renowned venture capital funds, including BlackRock and Google Ventures, have participated in investing in the company, expressing strong interest and optimism about its growth potential.

What Are the Highlights of Zhiyuan Messenger, This Rising Star, and How Will It Fiercely Compete with Other mRNA Companies?

Dr. Haoxuan Tong, Founder of Zhiyuan MessengerHe completed his undergraduate studies at Zhejiang University and later earned a Ph.D. from Harvard Medical School, where he was supervised by Professor Tom Roberts, one of the inventors of Gleevec, the “miracle drug” featured in the film *Dying to Survive*.

Dr. Tong Haoxuan, Founder of Zhiyuan Messenger

During her doctoral studies, Tong Haoxuan participated in research and development at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, affiliated with Harvard Medical School, focusing on DNA, RNA, human papillomavirus (HPV), and tumor vaccines. She also contributed to the development of Novartis’ small-molecule drugs, antibody therapies, and biologics for breast cancer, lung cancer, colorectal cancer, and liver cancer, as well as clinical trial design. Through this work, she accumulated extensive scientific research experience and successfully advanced multiple clinical trials and facilitated the market approval of several pharmaceutical products.

After earning her Ph.D., Tong Haoxuan joined a renowned flagship pharmaceutical investment firm in Boston, USA.Flagship PioneeringDuring this period, he was primarily responsible for operational activities including the incubation, project development, and initial public offerings (IPOs) of biopharmaceutical companies. Notable successful IPO cases led by Dr. Tong include those listed on NASDAQ: MNRA, ALNY, SYRO, MCRB, and SRTP.

Watching the Tide Is No Match for Riding It. Perhaps investing pales in comparison to hands-on industry involvement when it comes to igniting one’s passion. After personally witnessing and driving breakthroughs and commercialization of numerous technologies in the life sciences sector, Tong Haoxuan, a scientist by training, has resolved to immerse himself in the real economy, experiencing firsthand and integrating into the tidal wave of technological advancement.

According to Dr. Tong, Moderna was incubated within Flagship Pioneering for the first two years after its establishment. As Moderna’s angel investor and major shareholder, Flagship Pioneering can be said to have single-handedly created Moderna. During this period, Dr. Tong connected with many of Moderna’s original technical team members, building deep mutual trust. This laid the initial foundation in terms of professional networks and technological expertise for the founding of Zhiyuan Messenger.

Due to the high technical barriers of mRNA technology, the current mRNA landscape remains characterized by an abundance of capital but a scarcity of viable projects. This is also because there are numerous directions available for research and strategic deployment based on mRNA technology.Not only in well-known infectious diseases, but mRNA technology also holds promising R&D prospects in oncology, chronic diseases, and rare diseases, where significant market gaps remain.

Zhiyuan Messenger’s vision extends beyond the U.S. market. Leveraging her keen business acumen, Tong Haoxuan has turned her attention to China. In her view, while the technical team’s strengths lay a solid foundation for source innovation, the company’s future growth and expansion must not forfeit its inherent advantage in production capacity.

At the company's inception, she began to lay out her strategy for the Chinese market.“The U.S. advantage lies in the relative accessibility of top-tier R&D talent, while China’s strength resides in its capacity to scale up production for downstream companies.”Tong Haoxuan analyzed as follows.

In her view, overcoming technical challenges and developing products are merely the first steps. When a company expands its product portfolio to a comprehensive level and prepares for market launch, the advantage of production capacity must come into play, and China is precisely such a fertile ground.The market’s promise, the government’s proactive policy support, and capital’s growing acceptance of new technologies are the reasons why Zhiyuan Messenger is prioritizing its strategic deployment in China.

“We aim to fully leverage the dual advantages of the Chinese and U.S. markets to drive the company’s rapid expansion and growth.” With a dual background in scientific research and business training, Tong Haoxuan is not only able to foresee the potential of technological advancements but also keenly capture their underlying commercial value.

“The Science + Business” combination seems to always enable a company to accelerate its development trajectory, with Moderna serving as an excellent precedent. Inheriting the strong foundation of Flagship Pioneering, Tong Haoxuan has consistently demonstrated ease and proficiency in recruiting top talent for her team. She told VCBeat that during her initial project roadshows across China, she was fortunate to meet several like-minded technical experts, including Dr. Yang Haitao, a researcher at the Shenzhen Institute of Sun Yat-sen University.

Dr. Yang Haitao, Researcher at the Shenzhen Institute of Sun Yat-sen University

“After returning to China from overseas, Dr. Yang has accumulated extensive experience in both scientific research and industry. Prior to our collaboration, Dr. Yang had already been involved in two entrepreneurial ventures, including serving as the CEO of Lifeome Genetics. His entrepreneurial experience, combined with his triple identity as a clinician, scholar, and entrepreneur, has enabled him to build robust professional networks with numerous Grade-A tertiary hospitals, universities, and industry partners in China. These connections have provided strong clinical resources, talent pools, and financial support for our subsequent research on vaccines and pharmaceuticals.”

When introducing the team’s talent to VCBeat, Dr. Tong could hardly conceal her excitement. She stated that the gathering of like-minded domestic scientific partners has laid a solid foundation for Zhiyuan Messenger to establish its CDMO production center in China, thereby enabling the company’s rapid development and progress.

When selecting a location for its domestic operations, Zhiyuan Messenger ultimately chose Shenzhen, taking into account the city’s vibrant innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem as well as supportive policies from the local government. Dr. Tong stated, “Shenzhen boasts remarkable innovative vitality, often regarded as China’s ‘Silicon Valley.’ The government provides substantial support to innovative enterprises, including annual funding through the Peacock Plan. A series of successful companies, such as BGI Genomics, Tencent, Huawei, and DJI Technology, were all incubated here.” The Zhiyuan Messenger team aims to use Shenzhen as its starting point to realize its ambitious vision.

The approval of Moderna and BioNTech’s mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines marks the initial recognition of mRNA technology. The biopharmaceutical industry regards the success of mRNA technology in the field of COVID-19 vaccines as a disruptive revolution in vaccine development. So, what are the specific advantages of mRNA technology in the research, development, and production of vaccines and drugs?

First, the R&D cycle is short. Compared with traditional vaccines, mRNA vaccines only require replacing the antigen sequence on a mature technology platform, thus offering significant advantages in responding to emerging infectious diseases. Second, since mRNA is produced via in vitro transcription using a DNA template, it has a shorter production cycle, simpler preparation, and lower theoretical costs compared to traditional methods such as protein fermentation.

Appropriate mRNA drug design may also target different proteins, enabling multiple therapeutic mechanisms; the characteristic of “not entering the cell nucleus” also means that mRNA vaccines carry no risk of exogenous DNA infection.

Finally, mRNA technology has broad application prospects. Since mRNA can act both intra- and extracellularly and express a variety of proteins/peptides, it can be used to target previously undruggable intracellular targets and for the development of novel vaccines. In addition to the currently highly prominent field of infectious diseases, mRNA technology can also be applied in multiple areas, including oncology, rare diseases, reproductive health, aesthetics, animal vaccines, and biologics.

It is thus evident that the fervor surrounding mRNA technology is by no means baseless.

From the “Big Three” in the mRNA technology sector—BioNTech, CureVac, and Moderna—we can learn that:PossessPossessing proprietary delivery platforms and maintaining a diversified R&D pipeline are among the key secrets for mRNA pharmaceutical companies to achieve high valuations in the capital market.

Well-versed in this strategy, the VBInsight Messenger, atTumors, Infectious Diseases, Rare Diseases, and Chronic Diseaseshas actively made in-depth investments in multiple high-growth sectors to explore the potential of mRNA technology across various disease areas, thereby gaining a first-mover advantage in the market to some extent.

According to Dr. Tong Haoxuan, Zhiyuan Messenger currently covers 12 disease categories, including neurofibromatosis, cystic fibrosis, ovarian cancer, head and neck cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, prostate cancer, pancreatic cancer, colorectal cancer, hepatitis B, HIV/AIDS, human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). These conditions represent significant market demand both domestically and internationally.

Zhiyuan Messenger R&D Pipeline

ASO and LNP delivery technology platforms are the primary technical platforms currently employed by Zhiyuan Messenger. However, Dr. Tong stated that the Zhiyuan Messenger team is currently further refining and upgrading its existing ASO, LNP, and other delivery technology platforms, with the aim of launching delivery systems with enhanced efficiency.

Photos of Zhiyuan Messenger Laboratory

In her view, compared with the first-generation garlic delivery system and the second-generation ASO delivery system, the LNP delivery technology platform currently holds the greatest application advantages, offers stronger tissue penetration, and can address diseases across multiple therapeutic areas.

“However, we should also recognize that the two mRNA vaccines recently approved still exhibit numerous side effects and adverse reactions; in terms of specificity for disease targets, current mRNA vaccines are somewhat lacking and require further improvement,” stated Dr. Tong. He noted that there remains significant room for enhancement in mRNA technology, particularly in delivery systems and manufacturing processes. Given that mRNA is prone to degradation, delivery systems and administration methods that better balance stability, safety, and delivery efficiency remain to be explored.

“Scientific exploration knows no bounds. We aim to continuously iterate and upgrade current mRNA technologies to achieve greater safety, efficacy, and high specificity—‘hitting the target precisely.’”

One defining characteristic of mRNA products is their exceptionally “rapid” development pace, which appears to have shaped Zhiyuan Messenger’s developmental DNA to some extent. As the company continues to advance its R&D pipeline, Zhiyuan Messenger has already begun making long-term strategic investments in production facilities. Of course, all these achievements rely heavily on the support of its talented team.

Dr. Tong stated, “In the future, Zhiyuan Messenger will continue to increase its investment in talent and expand its team. With the accumulation of talent strength,”Over the past year, we have successively completed the establishment of our China-based CDMO manufacturing center and expanded exploration of additional product pipelines. In the next two to three years, the Company aims to achieve dual listings on the NASDAQ and the Shanghai Stock Exchange STAR Market.This is also the development framework that Zhiyuan Messenger had designed from the outset.”

When asked about her perspective on the current hype surrounding mRNA technology, Tong Haoxuan replied, “mRNA technology represents a major scientific breakthrough, ushering in a new chapter of development in the field of biotechnology. However, we must recognize that scientific advancement is evolving at an unprecedented pace, with a continuous stream of new technologies being developed and applied in this field. Meanwhile, the increasingly severe global environmental challenges and highly mobile populations pose greater demands on science. The mission of every scientist is to fully unleash their light and heat, burning brightly for this era.”