Sichuan Biokin Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

Ascentage Pharma already trades on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and could soon be joined by two more biotechs.\n A trio of Chinese biotechs have filed to go public, setting the stage for offerings that could fill the coffers of companies that have big deals with Bristol Myers Squibb and Takeda.The Takeda partner, Ascentage Pharma, filed to list its stock on the U.S. Nasdaq exchange late last year. The biotech updated its filing Tuesday with expectations for the listing, predicting that the offering will net around $134 million. Ascentage has earmarked up to $60 million to pursue approval of the cancer drug lisaftoclax in China and up to $40 million to develop the kinase inhibitor olverembatinib in the U.S.Olverembatinib helped put Ascentage on the map last year when Takeda secured an option on the asset outside mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and Russia. Takeda paid $100 million for the option. The value of the deal could swell to $1.3 billion if Takeda exercises the option and hits the milestones. Ascentage already trades on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and could soon be joined by two biotechs that submitted IPO paperwork Tuesday. Sichuan Biokin Pharmaceutical, best-known in the West through its U.S. subsidiary SystImmune, originally filed (PDF) to list its shares in Hong Kong last summer. At the time, Bloomberg reported the IPO could raise $500 million. Biokin never executed the offering and has now resubmitted its paperwork. Most of the information in the two submissions is the same, but Biokin has added (PDF) details about the partnership between BMS and SystImmune. BMS paid SystImmune $800 million upfront for ex-China rights to an EGFRxHER3 bispecific in 2023.The updated filing reveals the previously disclosed $500 million in near-term payments are tied to two milestones. BMS will pay $250 million if a phase 2 or 3 study starts in first- or second-line patients in the U.S. by the end of 2025. The Big Pharma will pay another $250 million if a first-line phase 3 trial starts in the U.S. by the end of 2026.Biokin filed its paperwork on the same day as Shanghai Bao Pharmaceuticals, a biotech that is seeking (PDF) cash to advance five clinical-stage candidates. The pipeline includes a long-acting fertility hormone that “a century-old pharmaceutical company renowned for its commitment to women’s health” has licensed for up to $182 million. Bao has landed other deals on the strength of its subcutaneous antibody tech.

Plus, news about Rivus and Crown Labs: Two Chinese biotechs file for stock listings in Hong Kong: Shanghai Bao Pharmaceuticals and Sichuan Biokin Pharmaceutical join a queue of Chinese drug developers looking to float their shares in Hong Kong. Bao, which was founded in 2019, has five clinical-stage drugs in development and seven preclinical assets. Bao’s pipeline includes candidates for bacterial infections, solid tumors, autoimmune diseases and other areas. Biokin, meanwhile, was founded in 1996 as Baili Pharmaceutical; it has multiple programs across generics, traditional Chinese medicine, and ADCs. — Kyle LaHucik Disc Medicine’s $200M offering: The company is raising the funding to support plans to commercialize bitopertin for patients with erythropoietic protoporphyria and X-linked protoporphyria. It previously said it planned to seek accelerated approval. — Jaimy Lee Rivus Pharmaceuticals adds $57M to Series B: The cardiometabolic biotech reeled in the additional capital this month, a spokesperson told Endpoints News . The biotech originally disclosed a $132 million Series B in 2022. CEO Jayson Dallas told Endpoints in September that the company planned to raise more money in 2024. Rivus’ lead candidate, dubbed HU6, has been in three Phase 2 studies, and the latest trial, in MASH, is expected to read out in the second quarter of this year. Rivus was considering an IPO in October, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News . — Kyle LaHucik Crown Laboratories raises bid for Revance Therapeutics: After facing competition from Teoxane, Crown has now offered to buy Revance for $3.65 per share — 55 cents more than its most recent offer and 5 cents more than Teoxane’s competing bid. Revance, which produces a Botox competitor called Daxxify, said Tuesday that Crown’s proposal is “the only fully financed offer currently available.” The offer expires early next month. — Nicole DeFeudis

SAN DIEGO--( BUSINESS WIRE )-- Avenzo Therapeutics, Inc . (“Avenzo”), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing next-generation oncology therapies for patients, today announced it has entered into an exclusive option agreement with VelaVigo for an exclusive license to develop, manufacture and commercialize a potential first-in-class Nectin4/TROP2 bispecific antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), globally (excluding Greater China). Nectin4 and TROP2 are highly co-expressed in multiple solid tumor types, including metastatic urothelial cancer. In addition, Avenzo has closed the final tranche of an oversubscribed Series A/A-1 financing, adding three new investors. The prior syndicate of investors, namely OrbiMed, Foresite Capital, SR One, Lilly Asia Ventures, Surveyor Capital (a Citadel company), New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Deep Track Capital, Sofinnova Investments, Sands Capital, INCE Capital, TF Capital, Delos Capital, and Quan Capital participated in this tranche, bringing the total capital raised to approximately $386 million. “ Since the formation of Avenzo, we have focused on building a pipeline of potential best- or first-in-class oncology assets. Today’s announcement brings us one step closer to our goal, and is based on the tremendous work from Scott Lipman, Chief Business Officer, and our entire team over the past 18 months,” said Athena Countouriotis, M.D., Co-founder, President and CEO of Avenzo. “ We continue to build our team to support our expected multiple clinical stage assets in mid-2025 and are excited to close our Series A/A-1 financing and add three new investors to our syndicate.” Under the terms of the exclusive option agreement, VelaVigo will receive an upfront fee and be entitled to receive upon the option exercise by Avenzo, an option exercise payment and potential development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments, totaling up to approximately $800 million, as well as tiered royalties on sales in Avenzo’s territory. An Investigational New Drug application for the Nectin4/TROP2 ADC is planned for submission to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in mid-2025. The company also announced the promotion of Scott Lipman, MBA to Chief Business Officer. Mr. Lipman joined Avenzo in March 2023 as Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and has led the company’s business development and strategy functions. Previously, he was on the leadership team at Turning Point Therapeutics and played an integral role in its acquisition by Bristol Myers Squibb for $4.1 billion in 2022. Mr. Lipman also worked in Healthcare Investment Banking at Goldman Sachs and started his career as a management consultant at ZS Associates. He received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles and his M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. About Avenzo Therapeutics Avenzo Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing next-generation oncology therapies for patients. The company’s lead drug candidate, AVZO-021, is a novel, highly potent and selective inhibitor of CDK2, a key enzyme involved in cell cycle regulation. AVZO-021 is being studied in a Phase 1 study in the U.S. for the treatment of advanced solid tumors, and in combinations in HR+/HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer. Avenzo is headquartered in San Diego, California. For more information, visit us at www.avenzotx.com or on LinkedIn .