The Hong Kong IPO market has been buoyant since November, with a marked increase in the number of companies submitting prospectuses, particularly in the biomedical and autonomous driving sectors.In December, there were two more biotechnology companies in Hong Kong, one of which was named “Guangzhou Yinnuo Pharmaceutical Group Co., LTD.” (hereinafter referred to as “Yinnuo Pharmaceutical”).
Yinuo Pharmaceutical started the A-share listing process in December 2022, but then voluntarily withdrew the application. The company said that it chose to list on the Stock Exchange in order to use the platform to attract foreign capital and diversified overseas investors, so as to enhance the company’s international image and market visibility.
The founder is a national expert who develops medicines for diabetes and obesityThe predecessor of Yinuo Pharmaceutical was founded in 2014, and Wang Qinghua, the founder, chairman and CEO of the company, has a “heavenly” career background.
According to the data, Wang Qinghua is a national special expert, the person in charge/chief scientist of the National science and technology “Major New drug creation” project during the 12th and 13th Five-Year plans, and was a tenured professor at the University of Toronto and a standing member of the world’s leading Banting Best Diabetes Institute.
According to the company’s prospectus, Wang Qinghua is the inventor of the company’s core product, Isupaglutide alpha.
Diabetes and obesity are both metabolic diseases, but at present, most metabolic diseases are incurable, and the existing treatment methods mainly focus on controlling and relieving symptoms.
Therefore, the future trend of the metabolic disease drug market is to develop innovative treatment options, drive the development of long-acting drugs, improve patient compliance, and develop safer therapies. GLP-1 therapy is reshaping the treatment of metabolic diseases, and GLP-1 exerts biological functions by activating GLP-1 receptors, which can provide comprehensive clinical benefits in controlling blood sugar and weight.
According to the prospectus, Yinuo Pharmaceutical’s self-developed core product Isupaglutide alpha will be a boon for patients with diabetes and obesity after it is launched.Yinuo’s first pipeline product Isupaglutide alpha has completed Phase 3 clinical studies for type 2 diabetes indications, the BLA application has been accepted by NMPA, and the two therapies are expected to be approved in the first half of 2025.
As of June 30, 2024, Yinuo Pharma’s research and development team consisted of 34 members, representing the majority of the company’s employees. The majority of the company’s research and development expenditure was used for the research and development of Isupaglutide alpha, which generated approximately 49.5 million yuan of research and development expenditure in the first half of 2024, accounting for 95.4% of the total research and development expenditure for the period.
In its prospectus, Yinnuo said the company faces competition from other pharmaceutical companies around the world, especially from existing and candidate products for T2D, obesity and overweight, MASH and other targeted diseases.
The company further stated that a total of ten innovative GLP-1 agonist drugs have been approved globally (including in China) for the treatment of T2D(type 2 diabetes), three of which are human-derived long-acting GLP-1 agonists. In 2023, the market share of the three human-derived long-acting GLP-1 receptor agonists, namely Duragtide, Semaglutide and Tipotide, will be 86.4% of the global GLP-1 therapy market. There are also a number of long-acting human GLP-1 receptor agonists in clinical development in the world and China.
Therefore, after Yinuo Pharmaceutical’s Isupaglutide α is listed next year, whether it can break through the containment in the strong market and share a share from the market remains to be verified.
Related topics
