Shanghai, China——June 16th-20th, 2022 (Beijing time), Viva Biotech 2022 Partnership Summit was successfully held. Over 300 attendees joined the Summit, including founders from portfolio companies, representatives from global investment institutions, R&D heads from pharmaceutical companies, and business development leaders.
As one of the largest annual events held by Viva, the Partnership Summit is committed to gathering the leading forces from the scientific research community, biopharma industry, capital groups and more to assist biotech start-ups in achieving development success and commercialization.
On June 16th, 29 VBI portfolio companies incubated by Viva BioInnovator (VBI) gathered at Demo Day Pro online and delivered their presentations, covering technology platforms for the treatment of central nervous system disease (by: Vincere Biosciences, QurAlis, Evecxia Therapeutics, Ophidion, Ribogenics), cardiovascular diseases and regenerative medicine (by: AceLink Therapeutics, Haya Therapeutics, Riparian Pharmaceuticals, Basking Biosciences, MorphoGene), immunology and infection diseases (by IpiNovyx Bio, Karma Biotechnologies, Dorian Therapeutics, Saverna Therapeutics, Arrepath, Xlement) and oncology diseases (by: Deka Biosciences, Focus-X Therapeutics, NAKI Therapeutics, Synthis Therapeutics, Phenomic AI, Exarta therapeutics, Reglagene, Amberstone Biosciences, GT Apeiron Therapeutics, F5 Therapeutics, Genhouse Bio, Sisu Pharma, QureBio).
On June 17th, the Executive Day, Dr. Han Dai, CIO of Viva Biotech and Head of Viva BioInnovator, started the event with an opening speech. He gave an overview of the Companies’ development, achievements in EFS investment and incubation business. Along with the continuous expansion of Viva Biotech's industry chain, VBI will further focus on professional post-investment management and continuously optimizing service platform from multiple dimensions such as CRO-CDMO one-stop services, cooperative ecosystems, industrial relations network, and operating facilities.
Dr. Cheney Mao, Chairman and CEO of Viva Biotech, introduced the Company's latest developments and future strategies. Dr. Derek Ren, Executive Director and President of Viva Biotech, gave detailed updates to the Company’s technology platforms. Viva Biotech is continuously enhancing its whole industry chain service capability to provide a world leading one-stop platform from SBDD to commercial delivery of drug products to global biopharmaceutical innovators.
Biopharma Capital Market is going through unstable time, with a need for more rational investment and financing. How can startups better carry out business expansion and M&A transactions under the current environment? Mr. Mike Connor, the Managing Director of J.P. Morgan’s Healthcare Investment Banking, who has extensive experience in cross-border M&A transactions and financing in biopharmaceuticals and diagnostics industry, was invited to give a speech on “Biopharma Capital Markets and M&A Updates”. Mike explained in detail the current capital transactions and introduced new opportunities and trends in the field from a global perspective.
After the speech, VBI portfolio company founders and investors participated together in a series of panel discussions themed “Fundraising and Partnering Strategies for 2022 and Beyond”, “Good Practice on CMC Planning and Implementation” and “Corporate Governance: How Board and SAB Make Companies?”.
Facing opportunities and challenges of investment and financing in the biopharma field, how can startups make a smooth transition and strive for more financing and partnership? In the first panel, we invited Ms. Shirley Lu from BFC Group, Dr. Adreas Bader, CSO of Triumvira and Dr. George Wu, Co-Founder & CEO of Amberstone Biosciences to share their insights on financing and how to establish investor partnership etc.
*BFC Group is a China-based boutique investment bank with a focus on mergers and acquisitions, licensing and financing in healthcare industry; Triumvira completed 100 million USD series A+ financing in March 2022; Amberstone Biosciences completed 12 million USD series A financing in January 2022.
In recent years, with the fast development of innovative drugs and the rapid growth of new biotech companies and new drug applications, how to seize the market opportunities through CMC Planning and Implementation? In the second panel, Dr. Jianguo Ma, Senior Vice President of Viva Biotech and CEO of Langhua Pharmaceutical, Dr. Wang Shen, CEO of VivaVision, and Dr. Charles Allerson, Vice President of Chemistry and Drug Development of DTx Pharma shared their expertise of CMC Planning and Implementation, as well as their personal experience.
*Langhua Pharmaceutical, a subsidiary of Viva Biotech Holdings, is a comprehensive pharmaceutical company engaged in drug research, development and production. Langhua offers our worldwide partners One-Stop CDMO solution. In 2021, Langhua Pharmaceutical’s annual revenue amounted to RMB1363.6 million, with a total of 788 customers served, and partially commenced operation of the Shanghai CMC R&D center. Now, the production capacity of Langhua Pharmaceutical has reached 860m³ and has been approved through cGMP audits by FDA, EDQM, WHO and NMPA, etc. VivaVision submitted application for US Phase II clinical trial for its dual-targeted mechanism for glaucoma, VVN539, and obtained positive results in its US Phase II clinical trial of VVN001, an innovative drug for dry eye syndrome. DTx Pharma closed $100 million series B financing in March 2021.
Good corporate governance plays an important role in enhancing the long-term value of the company and building investors’ trust. How to explore the best mode of corporate governance to promote the rapid growth of the companies? In the third panel, Dr. John Mumm, CEO of Deka Biosciences, Dr. Mingxi Li, CEO of Aperion and Mr. Tom Needham, Broadview Ventures Director and Board Observer of Haya Therapeutics discussed how boards and scientific advisory committees can better shape companies.
*Deka Biosciences completed 20 million USD series A financing in November 2021; Aperion completed 17.5 million USD series A financing in March 2022; Haya Therapeutics completed 25 million USD seed round financing.
The Partnering Platform of the Summit lasted from June 17 to 20. Investors conducted more than 300 one-on-one online meetings with the founders and executives of VBI incubated portfolio companies, further exchanging in-depth information about each company's technological highlights, development prospects and investment needs.
To learn more about VBI portfolio companies, please visit: www.vivabioinnovator.com
About Viva Biotech Holdings
Established in 2008, Viva Biotech (01873.HK) provides one-stop services ranging from early-stage Structure-Based Drug R&D to commercial drug delivery to global biopharmaceutical innovators. We offer leading early-stage to late-phase drug discovery expertise by integrating our dedicated team of experts, cutting-edge technology platforms, and state-of-the-art equipment in X-ray crystallization, Cryo-EM, ASMS, SPR, HDX, CADD, etc.. Our business covers all aspects of therapeutic strategies and drug modalities including small molecules and biologics across the pharma and biotech spectrum. Through our subsidiary Langhua Pharma, we offer our worldwide pharmaceutical and biotech partners One-Stop integrated CMC (Chemical, Manufacturing, and Control) service from preclinical to commercial manufacturing. In addition, Viva has embedded an equity for service (EFS) model to high potential startups to address unmet medical needs.
About Langhua Pharmaceutical
Langhua Pharmaceutical, a subsidiary of Viva Biotech Holdings, is a comprehensive pharmaceutical company engaged in drug research, development and production. Langhua offers our worldwide partners One-Stop CDMO solution in new drug full life-cycle for small molecule Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) and Finished Dosage Form, from pre-clinical to commercial supply.
About Viva BioInnovator
As the investment division of Viva Biotech, Viva BioInnovator is dedicated to investing globally in biotech innovation with novel solutions to unmet medical needs across multiple therapeutic areas, ranging from biopharmaceuticals to devices, diagnostics, and life science tools. By leveraging Viva Biotech's deep experience and technical advantages in novel drug R&D, Viva BioInnovator provides both cash and in-kind services, also called Equity-for-Services (EFS), for its investments.
