What's New at Qiming
Two Qiming Funds Added as Co-investment Partners of ITVF in Hong Kong
Qiming Venture Partners VIII, L.P. and Qiming Venture Partners VIII-HC, L.P., have been added as co-investment partners (CPs) of the Innovation and Technology Venture Fund (ITVF) in Hong Kong, recommending suitable investment targets to the ITC and contributing to the development of local startup ecosystems.
The selection was based on assessment of fund capability, investment strategy and performance, management team's expertise and experience, local network and resources, as well as the advice of the ITVF Advisory Committee.
Qiming Healthcare International Expansion Forum Concluded
Qiming Healthcare International Expansion Forum was held on Oct. 18th in Shanghai as part of the 2023 Shanghai International Biopharma Industry Week. With over 500 registered participants and over 60k online viewers, leaders and executives from World Economic Forum, Gan & Lee Pharmaceuticals, Insilico Medicine, Belief BioMed, Nurotron and Pluslife Biotech shared their insights into the trends and experiences of expanding into international markets.
"The quality of China's innovative drugs and medical devices has far exceeded that of 5 or 10 years ago, and China's innovation will play a critical role in the global healthcare industry chain. In the long run, China will assist in boosting global innovation and further reduce the cost of the global healthcare system." Willliam Hu, Managing Partner said in a keynote speech.
Nisa Leung Joined Panel Discussion at FII7
"In 2024, we expect to see more investments in tech, biotech and various sectors. In the meantime, good companies with solid milestones will go IPO... In the past 2 years, we've been focused on working with our portfolio companies, reducing the cost and ensuring that the runway is as long as possible." Our Managing Partner Nisa Leung shared her investment outlook for 2024 during the seventh FII Institute Forum held in Riyadh. Joining world-leading investors, Nisa highlighted innovative areas in healthcare that Qiming has been investing in, including cultured meat, women's health, liquid biopsy, etc.
Awards
Qiming was awarded "Special Contribution Institution for ESG Investment in 2022-2023" by 21st Century Private Equity & Venture Capital Competitiveness Study & Ranking. This list is aimed at understanding the current status of ESG investment in China's private equity and venture capital industry, identifying case studies, and promoting the practice of ESG investment by institutions.
Mangaing Partner Nisa Leung made 2023 Fortune China's Most Powerful Women in Business. Ling Dong, Co-Founder and COO of our portfolio company M20 Genomics, was included in China's Most Powerful Women in Business (Future List). The main list recognizes the most prominent female leaders in various industries, while the Future List identifies emerging female leaders, including entrepreneurs, managers, rising stars and opinion leaders.
In the 2022-2023 21st Century Private Equity and Venture Capital Competitiveness Study & Ranking, Qiming was selected among the Top 30 Influential Venture Capital and Private Equity Institutions of the Year. William Hu, Managing Partner, was awarded Top 30 Elite Investors of the Year, and Jinda Gao, Principal, was awarded Influential Young Investor of the Year.
Portfolio Highlights
ESG
Promoting sport spirit for younger generations, Moodytiger joined hands with UNICEF HK as official apparel sponsor of UNICEF Charity Run event, which will kick off in November from Hong Kong Disneyland.
CanSino Biologics has partnered with the Gates Foundation to work on an advanced polio vaccine, based on virus-like particles. The WHO recommends such vaccine as one of the preferred vaccines for polio in the future.
Financing
Cencorp completed its Series B financing of nearly RMB 100 million. This round will support the establishment of the base in eastern China, national laboratories and R&D investment. Qiming led its Series A and A+ rounds.
Founded in 2020, Cencorp completed the acquisition of Finland-based Cencorp in 2022. The company is now headquartered in Zhuhai and has subsidiaries in Europe and the US. Cencorp specializes in motion control, laser, and dispensing process technology, committed to providing high-end process automation equipment for customers in the consumer electronics, automotive electronics, and semiconductor sectors.
Technology & Consumer
WeRide was invited to attend the FII7 Forum in Riyadah and performed dynamic demo runs of its L4 autonomous driving robobus. As the only dynamic display of autonomous driving technology at FII7, WeRide's Robobus provided three-day VIP trial rides at the King Abdulaziz International Conference Center and received more than a hundred important passengers.
Hesai Technology announced that Hozon’s Neta Auto will adopt its long-range AT128 LiDAR sensor in 2025. It will become the core of the Neta Pilot smart driving system. Since its mass production delivery in 2022, the AT128 has empowered a number of premium passenger cars with cumulative deliveries exceeding 130,000 units.
Unisound provides a full set of intelligent in-vehicle solutions to the built-in Crystal Virtual Assistant system of RuiLan 7, the new SUV of Geely's new energy brand Ruilan, offering a more accurate, smooth and more humanized experience for users.
Sunyur reached partnerships with Zhongxun Agri-Science Corporation and Golden Resources Group to accelerate their digital transformation in procurement based on Sunyur's smart platform and services.
ZegoCloud joined hands with AVL and NEXTDATA and launched a one-stop solution to improve content safety in livestreaming. ZegoCloud currently serves more than 4,000 enterprise customers in over 200 countries and regions, offering interactive livestreaming, voice chat, and other solutions.
Based on the full-stack technology of humanoid robots, UQI, a subsidiary of UBTECH, has launched an L4-level self-driving logistics vehicle "Chitu”. Equipped with UPilot intelligent driving operating system, Chitu is the first self-driving logistic vehicle in China that does not rely on RTK high-precision positioning.
Polestone 01's first production car was launched in the factory in Qingdao and expected to be delivered in mid-November. Polestone 01 is Rox Motors' first vehicle model and has received great response from the market as a preferred option for long-distance travelling.
DeepWay, in collaboration with Yuanchi New Energy (Shan Xi), has completed the first delivery of 100 smart new energy heavy trucks. They will work collaboratively to serve the logistics and transportation business of Baowu Group.
NEIWAI opened its first store in North America. Located in the SOHO district in New York, the store sells a full line of products including underwear, loungewear, casual wear and sportswear.
Healthcare
Belief Biomed joined hands with Takeda China and entered into an exclusive collaboration agreement. Takeda China is responsible for the commercialization of Belief's BBM-H901 Injection in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau, China. Two companies will combine their strengths and resources in their respective fields to accelerate the commercialization of the product, help more hemophilia B patients gain access to innovative new treatment options.
DPTechnology and Biometa, a leading one-stop biotechnology innovative drug development service platform, signed a strategic partnership agreement. The two parties will jointly integrate resources and develop preclinical drug one-stop wet and dry lab platforms and other service capabilities, to jointly provide one-stop drug R&D services for pharmaceutical customers.
MediLink Therapeutics entered into a strategic collaboration and worldwide license agreement with BioNTech SE on the development of a next-generation antibody-drug conjugate candidate, against Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 3 (HER3). MediLink will grant BioNTech exclusive global rights for the development, manufacturing, and commercialization of one of MediLink's ADC assets excluding Mainland China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and Macau Special Administrative Region. BioNTech will provide MediLink with an upfront payment totaling of $70 million and additional development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments potentially totaling over $1 billion.
Zencore Biologics and Glycotherapy Biotech signed a strategic cooperation agreement in the field of ADC glycoconjugate drug discovery and manufacturing. The two companies will work together to build a diverse, high-quality and efficient platform for the development of new-generation ADC drugs, from early ADC drug discovery to clinical pharmacology research and commercialization.
Insilico Medicine announced the nomination of ISM9274, a highly selective small molecule covalent dual inhibitor of CDK12/13, as a Preclinical Candidate Compound (PCC) for use in a wide range of tumor therapies. CDK12 ranked high on the list of potential targets for a variety of tumors in indication exploration supported by Insilico's PandaOmics. In preclinical studies, ISM9274 showed potent proliferation inhibitory activity against more than 60 tumor cell lines across 13 broad cancer classes, particularly in triple-negative breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, and other areas of clinical urgency where therapies are limited.
GluBio's novel molecular gel degrader GLB-002 was approved by China's NMPA for clinical trials. GLB-002 is the second molecular gel product developed by GluBio and approved for clinical trials. Preclinical data show that GLB-002 has strong degradation activity, high selectivity, more complete protein degradation and overcoming acquired resistance to immunomodulatory drugs.
Abbisko announced that its self-developed next-generation EGFR-Exon20ins inhibitor ABSK112 has received approval of clinical trials by China's NMPA. The FIH Phase I clinical trial targeting non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) will start soon.
CANbridge Pharmaceuticals announced the marketing approval of CAN108 by Hong Kong and Taiwan regulators. LIVMARLI is a minimally absorbed ileal bile acid transporter (IBAT) inhibitor, and the first and only treatment approved medication in both China’s Hong Kong and Taiwan for the treatment of cholestatic pruritus (itching caused by slowed or stalled bile flow) in patients with Alagille syndrome (ALGS) aged one year or older.
Brise Pharmaceuticals commenced the dosing for the initial participants in its Phase 1 clinical trial, designated MBR01T-101. The trial focuses on the safety and tolerability study of BR01T, a groundbreaking monoclonal antibody designed to target Tropomyosin Receptor Kinase (TrkA) for addressing Chronic Low Back Pain (CLBP). The trial is set to be conducted at a prestigious JBR CenExel clinical research center located in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
Jacobio Pharma completed first patient dosage of its in-house KRAS G12C inhibitor glecirasib in a pivotal clinical trial for pancreatic cancer patients in leading site Peking Union Medical College Hospital. Glecirasib’s pivotal study for pancreatic cancer was approved by CDE in July 2023, which became the first global pancreatic cancer KRAS G12C registrational clinical study. The study results will be used to submit NDA (New Drug Application) for pancreatic cancer.
Awards
WeRide was recognized by Fortune Change the World list for its innovative autonomous driving technology, potentially improving traffic efficiency and safety, helping solve aging challenges, and contributing to a carbon neutral future.
11 Qiming portfolio companies have made the Top 100 lists by leading trade publication Healthcare Executive.
Top 100 Innovative Chinese Pharmaceutical Companies: Zai Lab, SinoCellTech, Antengene, Jacobio, CanSino Biologics, Asieris, Abogen, and InventisBio
Top 100 Innovative Emerging Chinese Pharmaceutical Companies: LaNova Medicine, Sinotau Pharmaceuticals, and Insilico Medicine.
Nearly 30 Qiming portfolio companies were honored on the 2023 Chinese Healthcare Front-Runners 100 list, which was published during the 2023 Shanghai International Biopharmaceutical Industry Week.
Three Qiming portfolio companies have won awards in the 5th Gasgoo Awards, with Hesai Technology being included in China's Top 100 Automotive New Supply Chain Award, Houmo and Chuhang Technology honored with Most Growth Value Award.
Insilico Medicine and Emergen Group have been included in KPMG China Future Unicorn AI List of Innovative Double 30 Enterprises for innovative vitality and market potential.
