ZT Biopharma Secures Nearly RMB 200 Million in Series B+ Financing Led by Huamei Medical and Sino-US Green Fund

Beijing QL Biopharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “QL Biopharm”) announced the completion of its Series B+ financing round, raising nearly RMB 200 million. The lead investors in this round were Imeik and China-US Green Fund, with other major investors including Jia Far Fund, Chengdu Science and Technology Innovation Investment Group (CDIG), and Kinsight Capital. Existing shareholder BlueRun Ventures China continued to increase its investment. CEC Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor for this financing round. The funds raised will be primarily used to advance clinical trials for QL Biopharm’s First-in-class and Biosimilar pipelines. The company’s production facility is nearing completion and is set to become operational. With the completion of this financing round, the participation of institutions such as Imeik and China-US Green Fund will also support QL Biopharm’s subsequent industrial implementation and expansion into domestic and international markets.

QL Biopharm, established in 2018, specializes in the development of recombinant protein therapeutics leveraging its *E. coli* technology platform. The core management team largely hails from Novo Nordisk, a global leader in metabolic medicines. Dr. Zhang Xujia, Chairman of the Board, earned his Ph.D. from Peking University and previously served as a researcher at the Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He joined Novo Nordisk in 2007 as Vice President of R&D, where he spearheaded the establishment of its *E. coli*-based recombinant protein technology platform and led over 30 R&D projects based on this platform. Dr. Zhang has devoted more than three decades to the fields of biopharmaceuticals and scientific research.

QL Biopharm announced in March 2023 that it had completed a Series B financing round worth hundreds of millions of RMB, led by BlueRun Ventures China. This marked the company’s second financing within a year, bringing its total fundraising for the year to nearly RMB 300 million. In the current market environment, this achievement underscores investors’ strong recognition of QL Biopharm’s value. Currently, QL Biopharm has more than 10 products in its pipeline, with comprehensive strategic layouts targeting major indications in metabolic diseases centered on the GLP-1 target. According to global pharmaceutical sales data, the GLP-1 drug market has experienced rapid growth in recent years, reaching USD 22.6 billion in sales in 2022 and accounting for nearly 38% of the antidiabetic drug market, making it the largest driver in the diabetes market today. Furthermore, GLP-1 drugs have demonstrated significant efficacy in weight loss indications, while major pharmaceutical companies are exploring their potential in treating non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), Alzheimer’s disease, and other conditions. The prospects for expanding clinical indications of GLP-1 drugs are broad, establishing them as globally recognized cornerstone “essential drugs” in the field of metabolism.

Compared to the time when QL Biopharm completed its Series B financing at the beginning of the year, its core pipeline has achieved significant breakthroughs in clinical progress. Notably, ZT002, a novel ultra-long-acting GLP-1 receptor agonist independently developed by the company, has completed Phase I clinical trials in Australia for the indication of glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes. In China, ZT002 successively obtained clinical trial approvals in the first half of 2023 for three indications: glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes, weight reduction treatment for adults with obesity or overweight, and Alzheimer’s disease.

As an iterative product of semaglutide, ZT002 is a global first-in-class novel ultra-long-acting GLP-1 receptor agonist, primarily indicated for diabetes and weight management. Through optimized molecular design, ZT002 possesses the longest half-life among currently known GLP-1 analogs, enabling potential once-monthly dosing. This significantly reduces administration frequency, effectively improves patient compliance, and alleviates the burden associated with frequent injections, thereby surpassing the weekly dosing limitation of mainstream market products such as Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide. Leveraging its proprietary QLLong long-acting technology platform, QLFold E. coli expression technology platform, and QLOral oral drug delivery technology platform, QL Biopharm has addressed the critical challenges of extremely low bioavailability and insufficient production capacity for oral peptide drugs by optimizing formulation and drug molecules.

In addition to innovative drugs, QL Biopharm has taken the lead in laying out its domestic commercialization strategy by launching a semaglutide biosimilar with significant market advantages, thereby achieving a “one body, two wings” model of synergistic development between innovative drugs and generics. Its independently developed ZT001 is a biosimilar of Novo Nordisk’s long-acting GLP-1 drug semaglutide, primarily indicated for diabetes and weight management. QL Biopharm has entered into a strategic cooperation agreement for joint development with Imeik, a leading enterprise in biomedical technology and the lead investor in this funding round, signing a “Technology Licensing and MAH Cooperation Agreement” that grants Imeik the rights to ZT001 for the weight management indication in Greater China. Through this strong alliance with Imeik, QL Biopharm is well-positioned to capture a significant share of the lucrative weight management market. With the expansion into weight management indications, semaglutide has essentially acquired consumer product attributes, and QL Biopharm will continue to explore its substantial commercial potential in the future.

From a process perspective, the manufacturing of peptide drugs involves multiple stages, including fermentation, separation, refolding, and purification, with each step presenting persistent bottlenecks for the industry. QL Biopharm’s QLFold technology platform targets the most critical stage in the industry—the refolding of inclusion bodies—raising the refolding yield from the current industry standard of below 20% to over 90%. This significantly improves overall production yield and is poised to overcome the core capacity constraints in the GLP-1 sector. Leveraging this process, QL Biopharm has substantially increased unit production capacity while reducing both construction and manufacturing costs. The company’s Taizhou production base is scheduled to commence operations in March 2024, with an annual production capacity of 40 million doses of semaglutide biosimilar.

Zhang Xujia, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of QL Biopharm, stated, “We are deeply grateful to both new and existing investors for their recognition and continued support of QL Biopharm. Having navigated the challenging early stages of our establishment—where ‘the road is long and arduous, but perseverance leads to success’—we have embraced a promising future through unwavering commitment. Leveraging our team’s over ten years of accumulation in the field of metabolic diseases, we have developed a proprietary technology platform with distinct characteristics and advantages, along with a pipeline matrix centered on GLP-1 analogs and sustained capabilities for innovative iteration. Currently, thanks to the concerted efforts of all employees, several pipelines have achieved significant milestone progress in clinical development. QL Biopharm remains committed to ‘maintaining keen industry insights’ and ‘developing products that benefit more patients.’ Our future goal continues to be patient-centric, driving breakthrough innovations through independent R&D, leveraging our platform’s technical, cost, and capacity advantages, and providing more accessible, effective, and competitive products from China to the global market.”

Jian Jun, Chairman of Imeikstated: “We are delighted to participate in this round of financing for QL Biopharm. Following the strategic product collaboration between the two parties, we have established an even closer partnership. The QL Biopharm team possesses extensive experience in peptide drug R&D and has successfully obtained clinical trial approvals for multiple drug candidates. Imeik holds a highly favorable view of the market potential for GLP-1 products in weight management. Both parties will further leverage their respective strengths in technology and commercialization to accelerate the market launch of these products.”

Wang Junfeng, General Manager of China-US Green FundThe statement highlights that the GLP-1 sector features immense demand and fierce competition, where only companies with proprietary core competencies can thrive and expand. QL Biopharm boasts a unique peptide drug expression and purification system, along with profound insights into the metabolic disease industry. This grants the company distinct advantages in both the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and innovative drug segments of the GLP-1 landscape. As the saying goes, “A dragon lying in the abyss is destined to soar to the highest heavens.” China-US Green Fund will partner with QL Biopharm to accelerate the availability of its products for both domestic and international markets.

Hu Yi, Managing Partner of Jia Far Fund ManagementStated: “With the sustained and robust growth in demand for glucose-lowering and weight-loss therapies, a substantial market for GLP-1-based drugs has emerged. Jia Yuan Capital has been closely monitoring investment opportunities in this field. The team at QL Biopharm originates from Novo Nordisk’s E. coli R&D group and possesses four core technology platforms: the ‘QLFold High-Efficiency Inclusion Body Protein Refolding Technology Platform,’ the ‘QLLong Long-Acting Technology Platform,’ the ‘QLFusion Fusion Protein Technology Platform,’ and the ‘QLOral Oral Drug Technology Platform.’ Centered on GLP-1 as its core therapeutic category, the company has achieved functionalities such as ultra-long-acting effects, multi-target engagement, and optimized oral formulations, while significantly reducing unit costs. We are highly optimistic about QL Biopharm’s proprietary platform technologies and its mature industrialization capabilities, and we believe that QL Biopharm is poised to become a leader in innovative recombinant protein therapeutics in China.”

CDIGIt stated: “Leveraging the core team’s decades of profound R&D experience in metabolic diseases under the leadership of Chairman Zhang Xu, QL Biopharm has established multiple proprietary R&D platforms. Centered on GLP-1, the golden target in the metabolic field, the company has built a structural product pipeline with significant innovation and differentiated competitive advantages. Its unique fatty acid chain long-acting modification technology is expected to enable ultra-long-acting GLP-1 formulations with once-monthly dosing, thereby further improving patient adherence and therapeutic efficacy. Meanwhile, the strategic alliance with industry leader Imeik is poised to maximize the potential commercial value of their collaborative products. The company maintains an industry-leading position in innovative drug portfolio layout, resolution of critical capacity bottlenecks, and future commercialization strategy. As Chengdu’s state-owned investment platform, CDIG will fully leverage the guiding and driving role of state capital to continuously empower the company’s long-term development. We believe that the company will continue to harness its innovation advantages in metabolic diseases, delivering affordable, more effective, and high-quality products to the public.”

BlueRun Ventures Chinastated: “QL Biopharm remains committed to differentiated innovation. Its ultra-long-acting GLP-1 product features a unique, extended dosing interval, offering the potential to provide patients with a differentiated therapy that ensures better adherence. We continue to be optimistic about QL Biopharm becoming a key player in the weight management sector, both in China and globally.”

Gu Dongchen, Chairman of KINSIGHT CAPITALStatement: Currently, the global prevalence of diabetes and obesity is on the rise. GLP-1 has emerged as a highly scrutinized therapeutic target, driving continuous iteration and advancement in peptide-based drugs. Against this backdrop, China’s GLP-1 drug market is at an inflection point of explosive growth, with substantial unmet clinical needs awaiting fulfillment by domestic innovative pharmaceutical companies. We are optimistic about QL Biopharm’s forward-looking and comprehensive layout in the GLP-1 therapeutic area. Its product pipeline covers treatments for diabetes, obesity, Alzheimer’s disease, NASH, and other conditions, with both the scale of its pipeline and its clinical progress leading the industry in China. We believe that, leveraging its exceptional team, independent manufacturing capabilities, and strong partnerships, QL Biopharm is poised to grow into a leading enterprise in the field of metabolic diseases in China. We are delighted to have participated in and facilitated QL Biopharm’s completion of this round of financing.

Liao Jieying, Managing Director of CEC CAPITALstated, “We are deeply honored to have assisted QL Biopharm in closing this round of financing. Leveraging its synthetic biology technology platform, QL Biopharm has gradually emerged as a leading enterprise in the continuous innovation of GLP-1 therapeutics. Its exceptional team ensures that the company maintains differentiation and industry leadership regardless of market conditions in the capital markets. We look forward to QL Biopharm further leveraging its advantages as an innovative recombinant protein drug platform in the field of metabolic diseases through this financing round, accelerating industrial-scale production, and driving the commercialization and market adoption of its products.”