Recently, Sihuan Pharmaceutical (00460.HK) announced that its subsidiary, Xuanzhu Bio, has completed a Series B financing round exceeding 600 million yuan. This round was led by Sunshine Life Insurance, with follow-on investments from Yifeng Capital, China Zhongji Investment, Taijin Capital, Guotou Taikang, Haichuang Mother Fund, BOC Capital, Jinjiang Xuanhong, Shaanxi Financial Holdings, Wanxin Capital, Deno Capital, and Huayi Capital, among other well-known investment institutions.
This financing follows a Series A strategic investment of 963 million yuan led by Guotou Zhaoshang in August 2020. The introduction of strategic investors in both rounds fully demonstrates the capital market's recognition of Xuanzhu Bio's continuous innovation capabilities and Sihuan Pharmaceutical Group's forward-looking layout, and will accelerate Xuanzhu Bio's goal of "becoming an innovative pharmaceutical company rooted in China with a global vision."
Xuanzhu Bio is an innovative drug subsidiary of Sihuan Pharmaceutical, a large domestic pharmaceutical and medical beauty group. After nearly 10 years of construction and development, the company has assembled a team of nearly 400 outstanding individuals led by scientists who have returned from overseas. It possesses independent R&D capabilities for innovative drugs, a complete R&D system, and complete drug development and industrialization capabilities. It does not rely on License in or CROs, and has the ability for continuous innovation and output. Relying on the commercialization capabilities of its parent company, Sihuan Pharmaceutical, Xuanzhu Bio is transforming from Biotech to BioPharm and gradually becoming a company with excellent R&D and industrialization capabilities.
In terms of R&D platform capabilities, Xuanzhu Bio has established two major R&D platforms for small and large molecules, covering areas such as small molecules, monoclonal antibodies, bispecific antibodies, fusion proteins, bispecific antibody-ADCs, and protein degradation, demonstrating a capacity for continuous R&D output.
In terms of product pipeline layout, Xuanzhu Bio focuses on the R&D of cutting-edge new drugs in oncology, metabolism, anti-infection, and digestion, focusing on the development of Class 1.1 innovative drugs. In the oncology field, the focus is on breast cancer, lung cancer, and solid tumors; in the metabolic field, the focus is on diabetes and NASH. Xuanzhu Bio has comprehensively deployed major targets for breast cancer, making it one of the most comprehensive companies in the domestic breast cancer sector.
To date, Xuanzhu Bio has more than 25 products under development, with 2 products in the NDA stage. One (Annazole sodium, a new drug for treating duodenal ulcers) has completed NDA submission and acceptance, and is expected to be approved for marketing in the second half of this year; another product (licensed to Huisheng Bio, a SGLT-2 inhibitor, dapagliflozin, for treating diabetes) is about to submit its NDA; the core products, the new generation CDK4/6 inhibitor pyroxynil and the ALK/ROS1 dual-target inhibitor XZP-3621, have both started Phase III clinical trials; another 11 products have entered the clinical I-III stages, and 1-2 projects will continue to enter the clinical development stage each year in the future.
In addition, Xuanzhu Bio has strengthened its international BD business expansion in recent years. The company has transferred the commercialization rights of the biosimilar drug patuplizumab (KM118) to its strategic investor, Shuanglu Pharmaceutical, and is expected to enter Phase III clinical trials soon. Simultaneously, projects in multiple therapeutic areas such as oncology, NASH, and anti-infection are undergoing continuous external licensing. In 2021, Xuanzhu Bio also collaborated with several domestic and international biotech companies. In August, it partnered with US-based HB Therapeutics to jointly develop a protein degradation platform, exploring new drugs in the molecular glue pipeline targeting three first-in-class undruggable targets; in November, it collaborated with Canadian SignalChem Lifesciences to obtain exclusive rights to a highly selective AXL inhibitor in Greater China; currently, it has partnered with Merck overseas and is about to conduct Phase II clinical trials combining with PD-1 (Keytruda) for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
The China Zhongji Investment project team believes that with the acceleration of reforms, the pharmaceutical industry has entered a new era of comprehensive encouragement of innovation. Based on the complete innovative drug industry chain in China, the huge domestic market, and the enormous potential for overseas exports, the market prospects for truly innovative pharmaceutical companies are very broad. Xuanzhu Bio has created a complete new drug R&D system primarily based on independent innovation, and its innovative drug product pipeline layout is rich and sustainable, with an international perspective. At the same time, the company is backed by its strong and resource-rich listed parent company, Sihuan Pharmaceutical, giving it a clear competitive advantage. The team believes that the company will make breakthroughs in the future and continue to create value for the industry and society as a whole.
