In June, the number of China Biopharma financing rounds reached 16, an increase from 14 in the previous month, while the total amount of financing reached $199 million, a slight decrease of 2% compared to $203 million in May.
The Beijing-based biotech Sungen Biomedical Technology closed a RMB 300 million ($41 million) Series A financing round, jointly funded by Hotgen Biotech, Green Pine Capital Partners, and other institutional investors. The funding will be used to advance the phase 2 clinical study of its lead asset, SGC001, for treating acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and the clinical development of other core pipelines.
In June, only one innovative pharmaceutical company, TransThera Sciences, successfully listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange with the amount of HKD 161 million ($21 million).
The Nanjing-based biotech’s core candidate is tinengotinib, a multiple tyrosine kinase (MTK) inhibitor that is undergoing pivotal/regulatory studies in previously treated cholangiocarcinoma (CCA).
The collaboration between AstraZeneca and CSPC Pharmaceuticals Group became the deal with the highest upfront payment in June. AstraZeneca will pay $110 million upfront, $1.62 billion in development milestones, and $3.6 billion in sales milestones, driving the total value of the alliance north of $5.3 billion.
The second-ranked upfront payment collaboration occurred between AI-driven company Xtalpi and DoveTree. Xtalpi is eligible for a total of $10.1 billion from DoveTree under the deal, including the $100 million upfront money, and over $10 billion in milestone payments and tiered royalties.
It is worth noting that both of the deals focus on the AI platforms. CSPC announced it will use its AI platform to discover oral compounds for multiple chronic diseases, including at least one small molecule in immunology. Similarly, XtalPi will leverage its AI-driven platform to discover and develop small molecule and antibody drug candidates for multiple DoveTree-selected targets addressing oncology, autoimmune disorders, and neurological diseases.
