HONG KONG – Xuanzhu (Shijiazhuang) Biopharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Beijing-based Sihuan Pharmaceutical Holdings Group Ltd.’s innovative drug R&D platform, has secured ¥800 million (US$117.2 million) in series A funding from the State Development and Investment Corp. (SDIC). CMG-SDIC Capital Co. Ltd. (CMG-SDIC) invested the entire ¥800 million, giving SDIC an 18.6% equity interest in the platform, a company spokesperson told BioWorld.

PERTH, Australia – Australia’s biopharma sector fared better than the country at large at the end of the financial year that ended June 30, as the country saw GDP fall 7% in the final quarter, the largest drop since 1959. Australia’s trading relationship with China helped the country sidestep the global financial recession of 2008, but the recent divide between the U.S. and China is also putting a wedge between Australia and China relations.

Bright days are ahead for China’s biopharmaceutical sector, which is getting a reset from the efforts to tackle COVID-19 through innovation and advancements. “I'm consciously optimistic about the fact that cross-border deals will continue,” Stella Xu, managing director, Quan Capital, from Shanghai, China said during a panel discussion at the Chinabio Partnering Forum.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has brought disruptions to R&D, market activities in the biopharmaceutical sector have remained active during the first half of this year in China. Venture capital investments, IPOs and partnering activity showed upward trends, except for M&A activity, which has declined for two years.

Ever since the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) overhauled its listing rules to welcome pre-revenue biotech companies in April 2018, Hong Kong has become the largest biotech fundraising hub in Asia, and the second largest in the world after Nasdaq, HKEX executives said Tuesday at the bourse’s biotech summit. The biotech IPO pipeline continues to grow and pre-revenue companies are more accepted into the city’s financial system.

Cansino Biologics Inc. launched its second pre-revenue share offering on Aug. 13, reaping ¥5.2 billion ($749 million) from Shanghai’s STAR market. Trading under the ticker 688185, its shares surged 87.5% to close at ¥393 on the first trading day. The company, currently developing 16 vaccine candidates for 13 infectious diseases, has grabbed headlines this year for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, Ad5-nCoV, which is due to enter phase III trials in Saudi Arabia shortly.