Qiming Venture Partners-Backed Sinocelltech Successfully Lists on STAR Market with 231.5% Surge at Debut

Qiming Venture Partners’ portfolio company, Beijing Sinocelltech Group Co., Ltd. (“Sinocelltech”), successfully listed on the STAR Market today (June 22).

Image from Tiger Brokers

Sinocelltech (688520.SH) set its IPO price at RMB 25.64 per share, issuing a total of 50 million shares and raising approximately RMB 1.28 billion.

Today, Sinocelltech opened at 85 yuan per share, representing a 231.5% increase over its issue price, with a market capitalization of 37.004 billion yuan. As of press time, the company’s stock price was temporarily holding at 80.68 yuan, with a total market capitalization exceeding 35 billion yuan.

Sinocelltech, founded in 2007, is an innovative biopharmaceutical R&D enterprise dedicated to the research, development, and industrialization of biological products, including monoclonal antibodies, recombinant proteins, and vaccines, with a focus on developing biologics that possess differentiated competitive advantages.

After more than a decade of accumulation and innovation in biopharmaceutical technology, Sinocelltech has established a high-efficiency, high-throughput technology platform covering the entire chain of biological drug research and development and production. It has independently developed a diversified and distinctive pipeline of biological drug products, including monoclonal antibodies, recombinant proteins, and vaccines.

As of May 15, 2020, Sinocelltech’s portfolio of 23 drug development candidates comprised 21 innovative drugs and 2 biosimilars. Among these, marketing applications for two products had been accepted for review, six products had been approved to enter clinical trials, six candidates were in preclinical research, and nine candidates were undergoing druggability assessment.

In addition, SinoCellTech has multiple drug candidates targeting various mechanisms in the discovery and validation stages. All these candidates are independently developed by the company, which holds global commercialization rights. SinoCellTech also maintains a robust and diverse early-stage pipeline encompassing recombinant proteins, monoclonal antibodies, and cell therapies, enabling the continuous advancement of innovative candidates into preclinical and clinical studies.

According to forecasts by the consulting firm Frost & Sullivan, the biopharmaceutical market in which SinoCellTech operates is experiencing rapid growth. The global biopharmaceutical market is projected to increase from USD 261.8 billion in 2018 to USD 402.1 billion in 2023, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of nearly 9.0%. Meanwhile, driven by economic growth and the rising prevalence of chronic diseases, China’s domestic biopharmaceutical market is expected to grow from RMB 262.2 billion in 2018 to RMB 641.2 billion in 2023, with a CAGR of approximately 19.6%.

SinoCellTech’s product pipeline is primarily divided into two major segments: innovative drugs and biosimilars. Among these, innovative drugs constitute the core of its portfolio, encompassing a diverse range of products such as vaccines, recombinant proteins, monoclonal antibodies, and CAR-T cell therapies.

SinoCellTech has advanced multiple products into Phase II–III clinical trials, encompassing a substantial number of “Me-better” or potential “Best-in-Class” therapeutics.

Development Progress of SCT200

For example, SCT200, a fully human EGFR monoclonal antibody independently developed by Sinocelltech, demonstrated in preclinical studiessignificantly superior to cetuximabAntibody Activity. In the Phase I clinical study of colorectal cancer, the objective response rate (ORR) was 39.5% (17/43) and the disease control rate (DCR) was 83.7% (36/43) in the 6.0 mg/kg to 15 mg/kg dose groups. In the 6 mg/kg treatment group, the ORR was 45.2% (14/31) and the DCR was 87.1% (27/31).

The funds raised in this offering will be primarily used for clinical research projects related to the Company’s products, with the remaining proceeds utilized to supplement the Company’s working capital.

Following the successful listings of Roborock (688169.SH) and Sanyou Medical (688085.SH), this marks the third portfolio company of Qiming Venture Partners to go public on the STAR Market this year. Qiming Venture Partners led the Series A financing round for SinoCellTech in 2017.

“We have aligned with the broader trend of technological innovation and proactively invested in many outstanding companies in the healthcare and TMT sectors. Today, we are delighted to see another portfolio company of Qiming Venture Partners list on the STAR Market,” said Yingyu Liang, Managing Partner at Qiming Venture Partners. “In the case of Sinocelltech, multiple product pipelines have entered Phase III clinical trials. We believe that innovative biological drugs with Me-better or Best-in-Class potential will soon be launched, addressing unmet medical needs.”

“The intensive rollout of China’s new drug review and approval system, the structural adjustment of domestic medication patterns, and the strong embrace of innovative pharmaceutical companies by the capital market have propelled the new drug sector into a golden age of rapid development,” said Tang Yanmin, Investment Partner at Qiming Venture Partners. “Since its inception, under the leadership of founder Dr. Xie Liangzhi and the management team, SinoCellTech has made extraordinary efforts to continuously strengthen its leading technology platform and expand its product pipeline. Over the years, it has advanced with remarkable steadiness, step by step. We firmly believe that SinoCellTech’s core technological advantages and the team’s pragmatic work ethic will undoubtedly position it as a high-potential innovative pharmaceutical company.”

Qiming Venture Partners was established in 2006 and has successively set up offices in Shanghai, Beijing, Suzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Seattle, Boston, and the San Francisco Bay Area. Currently, Qiming Venture Partners manages nine U.S. dollar funds and five RMB funds, with total assets under management exceeding US$5.3 billion. Since its inception, the firm has focused on investing in outstanding early-stage and growth-stage enterprises in industries such as TMT and Healthcare.

To date, Qiming Venture Partners has invested in more than 350 high-growth innovative companies, of which over 110 have exited through listings on major global stock exchanges or mergers, and more than 30 have become industry-recognized unicorns and super unicorns.

Many of Qiming Venture Partners’ portfolio companies have grown into the most influential players in their respective fields, including Xiaomi Corporation (01810.HK), Meituan Dianping (03690.HK), Bilibili (NASDAQ:BILI), Roborock Technology (688169.SH), Tigermed (300347.SZ), Zai Lab (NASDAQ:ZLAB), Venus Medtech (02500.HK), CanSino Biologics (06185.HK), Schrödinger (NASDAQ:SDGR), Sanyou Medical (688085.SH), AmoyDx (300685.SZ), Berry Genomics (000710.SZ), WeDoctor Group, and UBTECH.