Shanghai Bao Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.

Plus, news about Krystal Biotech and Curewell Capital: 🇨🇳 Two more Chinese biotechs file for IPOs in Hong Kong: LongBio Pharma and Shanghai Bao Pharmaceuticals both applied for an IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Thursday. Bao has raised about $213 million to date and had about $63 million in cash and equivalents at the end of June, per the IPO filing. It’s working on treatments for cancer and bacterial infections, among other disease categories. LongBio had about $40 million in cash and equivalents at the end of June. The biotech is developing therapies for allergy and autoimmune conditions. — Kyle LaHucik 🦠 Lighthouse Pharmaceuticals gets $49.2M grant from NIH: The company plans to use the funding for a Phase 2 trial for patients with Alzheimer’s disease who have a confirmed Porphyromonas gingivalis infection. P. gingivalis is a bacterium associated with gum disease; the company said chronic infection with the bacterium can “contribute” to the progression of Alzheimer’s. — Jaimy Lee 🏛Krystal Biotech pauses advanced melanoma study: The company’s decision to pause enrollment in the Phase 1/2 study of intratumoral KB707 was reportedly due to uncertainty about the FDA’s approach to regulation, according to STAT . The regulator rejected a similar therapy from Replimune in July. Both treatments are engineered using a herpes virus. Krystal said Thursday that it is still studying an inhaled version of its therapy, called KB707, in lung cancer. — Lei Lei Wu 💵 Curewell Capital raises $535M, in part for US pharma services: The Los Angeles-based private equity company closed a fund of $535 million, which will be used to acquire US companies that do work in pharma and healthcare services, medical devices and health tech. The fund was raised less than five months after launch. — Anna Brown

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