JNJ - Week In Review: Biocytogen A Genetically Modified Animal Models Company Stages $60 Million IPO
Summary
- Using its animal models, Biocytogen has also developed an innovative in vivo drug efficacy and safety screening process to discover 10+ preclinical and clinical candidates, a collection of monoclonal antibodies, bispecific antibodies and bispecific ADCs.
- I-Mab said it would concentrate its drug development efforts on five key candidates, for which it will seek international partners once the candidates show Phase I or II proof of concept.
- RedCloud Bio dosed the first patient in a China Phase I/II trial of its lead product, a next-gen EGFR TKI candidate for NSCLC with the C797S mutation that is resistant to other EGFR TKIS therapies.
Deals and Financings
Beijing Biocytogen Pharma (HK:02315) completed a $60 million IPO on the Hong Kong Exchange for its genetically modified animal and cell model business, which it offers to global pharmaceutical/biotech companies. Using its animal models, Biocytogen has also developed an innovative in vivo drug efficacy and safety screening process to discover 10+ preclinical and clinical candidates, a collection of monoclonal antibodies, bispecific antibodies and bispecific ADCs. Three products have been out-licensed and/or entered co-development. Biocytogen has a market capitalization of $357 million.
Shanghai Neukio Biotherapeutics completed a $50 million Series A-1 funding to support development of its cell therapy molecules, especially off-the-shelf allogenic CAR-T therapies. One year ago, Neukio raised $40 million in an Angel round. The company will use the funds to accelerate preclinical/clinical validation of induced pluripotent stem cell ((IPSC))-derived off-the-shelf CAR-NK cell therapy products, while also expanding its team and operations. The latest funding was led by CD Capital, with participation from Alwin Capital and Surplus Capital as new investors. Existing shareholders Lilly Asia Ventures, Sherpa Healthcare Partners and IDG Capital also joined.
Hangzhou’s E-nitiate Biopharma closed a $15 million Series A financing to develop drugs for autoimmune diseases. Founded in 2020, E-nitiate is a joint venture between VivaVision Biotech and the Betta Pharmaceuticals fund, which contributed at least $3 million in an Angel Round. The company plans to develop products from its own R&D pipeline plus strategic collaborations with other companies. It is also collaborating with Betta Pharma on clinical trials for the latter company's pipeline. E-nitiateBio is a project of Hangzhou Linping National Development Zone.
Shanghai Asieris Pharma (SHA:688176) acquired rights to nepicastat, a small molecule drug that may be an effective therapy for heart failure, from Acorda Therapeutics (ACOR) in a $7.5 million agreement (see story ). Asieris will have rights to all non-psychiatric indications of the drug. Acorda acquired nepicastat when it bought Biotie Pharma, a Finnish company, in 2016. Originally, Acorda developed the candidate as a therapy for cocaine addiction and PTSD, though clinical trials were not successful. Acorda will receive an upfront payment of $500,000, and up to $7 million in milestones, plus royalties.
The Mayo Clinic, Hibiscus BioVentures and Hangzhou Innoforce launched Mayflower BioVentures, a cell and gene therapy accelerator that will form companies to develop novel Mayo Clinic technologies through preclinical and early feasibility studies. Although Mayo is a hospital, it has generated a portfolio of next-generation immune system modulators and multiple novel therapeutics in cell and gene therapy. Its Center for Regenerative Biotherapeutics works to advance regenerative technologies from discovery into early phase clinical trials, including collaborations with companies like Hibiscus. Innoforce offers CDMO services to cell and gene therapy companies.
Hangzhou DAC Biotechnology will apply its ADC technology to develop up to five products for Janssen Biotech, a division of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) (see story ). A 10-year-old ADC specialist, DAC’s ADC platform includes more than 50 novel intelligent linkers (including site-specific conjugation) and 100 small molecule cytotoxic drugs. DAC will receive an upfront payment, cost reimbursement and milestone payments, plus royalties on sales for each selected product. Johnson & Johnson Innovation will make an equity investment in DAC. Specific details were not disclosed. The agreement was originally announced in June of this year.
Shanghai UniCar Therapy closed a Series C financing to advance clinical trials of its ssCART-19 injection in patients with leukemia. Guan Bang Fund and Junci Investment were the two named investors in the C round. UniCar’s ssCART-19 injection, the company’s lead CAR-T 2.0, expresses single-chain antibodies targeting CD19 and IL-6 silencing elements (shRNA). The company expects IL-6 silencing will decrease cytokine release syndrome in patients. UniCar focuses on refining CAR-T products to increase their efficacy. The company said the C round raised “tens of millions of RMB.”
Company News
I-Mab (IMAB) said it would concentrate its drug development efforts on five key candidates, for which it will seek international partners once the candidates show Phase I or II proof of concept (see story ). It plans to out-license ex-China rights, while retaining China rights, though it will also partner commercialization in China to avoid the cost of building a sales force. The detailed presentation of the company’s assets seems an oblique denial that I-Mab is seeking to sell the entire company, a possibility raised in recent press reports. I-Mab pointed out that it has almost $600 million in cash, enough to support three years of operations.
Trials and Approvals
Sirnaomics (HK:2257) reported that its lead product, an siRNA (small interfering RNA) therapy, produced a 100% complete response in patients with cutaneous basal cell carcinoma. Five patients received a 180?g dose of STP705 in the Phase II clinical trial of STP705. The candidate is composed of two siRNA oligonucleotides that target the expression of TGF-?1 and COX-2 mRNA, respectively. BCC is a nonmelanoma skin cancer associated with exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Sirnaomics is a Suzhou-Maryland biotech dedicated to RNAi drug development.
Shanghai RedCloud Bio dosed the first patient in a China Phase I/II trial of its lead product, a next-gen EGFR TKI candidate for NSCLC with the C797S mutation that is resistant to other EGFR TKIS therapies. RedCloud uses structural pharmacology and computational approaches for small molecule drug discovery and development. H002 is a fourth-gen EGRF inhibitor discovered by RedCloud. In preclinical studies, the candidate showed broad-spectrum potency and high selectivity against EGFR mutations, including single, double and triple mutations. H0002 has also shown potent anti-tumor activity in an EGFR-positive brain metastases model.
Disclosure: none.
Editor's Note: The summary bullets for this article were chosen by Seeking Alpha editors.
For further details see:
Week In Review: Biocytogen, A Genetically Modified Animal Models Company, Stages $60 Million IPO