Science and Technology丨Two NTU Chemistry Alumni are ringing the bell for their respective IPOs

In January this year, the announcement of the results of the first review meeting of the Shanghai Stock Exchange Listing Review Committee in 2024 showed that Saifen Technology’s initial application was approved by the listing committee meeting.

This time on the Science and Technology Innovation Board, Saifen Technology plans to raise 800 million yuan. Among them, 334 million yuan is used for 200,000 liters/year of excipients for biomedical separation and purification, 195 million yuan is used for R&D center construction projects, and 270 million yuan is used to supplement working capital.

Its main business is the development and production of liquid chromatography materials for drug analysis, detection, separation and purification.

According to Qichacha, Huang Xueying, the founder of Saifen Technology, graduated from Nanjing University with a bachelor's degree and a master's degree. He later went to the United States to study for a doctorate at the University of Delaware and a postdoctoral degree at Stanford University. At that time, his main research field was ion chromatography.

In 2002, Huang Xueying and his wife founded Saifen in the United States, specializing in the development of new materials for liquid chromatography.

Later, in 2009, Saifen Technology officially settled in Suzhou Industrial Park, focusing on R&D and providing full-cycle analytical chromatography and industrial purification solutions from drug research and development, preclinical to clinical phase I, II, III, production and quality control.

A few years later, he decided to return to China and build a world-class biological and pharmaceutical separation and purification industry. Therefore, in 2009, Saifen Technology was officially established in Suzhou.

Now, Saifen Technology has developed into an entity enterprise integrating R&D, production and global sales, with more than 1,000 product types and more than 5,000 global customers.

It has also become a supplier to major pharmaceutical companies such as Roche, Pfizer, Eli Lilly, Gan & Lee Pharmaceuticals, Chia Tai Tianqing, and Qilu Pharmaceuticals.

This company previously completed Series A and Series B financings totaling RMB 82 million in 2015 and 2018, respectively, and received support from Tonghua Investment and Huatai Health Fund.

Until 2021, this company called Saifen Technology took the lead in completing a Series C financing of more than 200 million in March, and introduced two heavyweight strategic investors, China Life Health Fund and Fosun Fortune.

Then in November, they successfully completed Series D financing of more than 500 million. In addition to well-known institutions such as CPE Yuanfeng, Hillhouse Venture Capital, Sinopharm Capital and Sherpa Investment, the investors this time also include industrial investors such as Sinovac Holdings and Ganli Pharmaceuticals.

From 2021 to the first three quarters of 2023, Saifen Technology's operating income was 155 million yuan, 213 million yuan, and 174 million yuan respectively; its net profits were 20.7738 million yuan, 47.1393 million yuan, and 34.6822 million yuan respectively.

In November last year, Bokangshiyun, founded by Ni Jinsong, another NTU chemistry alumnus, submitted a prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and planned to list on the Hong Kong main board. UBS Group AG, CCB International and Huatai International are its joint sponsors.

Ni Jinsong, the founder of Bokangshiyun, graduated from the Chemistry Department of NTU in 1989 and has nearly 20 years of experience in pharmaceutical research and development.

In 2015, Bokangshiyun was established, mainly focusing on the research and development of innovative ophthalmic drugs. Currently, it has established bases in Guangzhou and Suzhou, and has established a pipeline system consisting of 7 candidate drugs. Four candidate drugs are progressing rapidly and have been In clinical stage.

Among them, the core products CBT-001 and CBT-009 are used to treat pterygium growth and adolescent myopia respectively, CBT-004 can treat vascularized eyelid spots, and CBT-006 is used to treat dry eye related to meibomian gland dysfunction. disease.

Since 2018, Bukangshiyun has carried out 4 rounds of financing, with a total financing amount of HK$1.13 billion, and the latest round of post-investment valuation reached HK$3.65 billion.

The investor lineup includes Huayi Capital, Yuanda Pharmaceutical, Haoyue Capital, Bank of China International, Dinghu Baifu, Gaotejia Investment, Deyi Capital, CCB International, etc.

The prospectus shows that in 2021, 2022 and the first half of 2023, the net financial income of Kangshiyun will be US$2,000, US$1.57 million, and US$1.85 million respectively; the total comprehensive losses will be US$37.23 million, US$72.95 million, and US$59.31 million respectively. Ten thousand U.S. dollars.

From the perspective of development strategy, the first is to accelerate the progress of research and development and promote 2 to 3 products to enter clinical phase III; the second is to be more planned in terms of funding; the third is to promote the joint development and external licensing of pipelines.

The two IPO companies have many similarities: they both belong to the field of biotechnology, and their founders are both graduates of Nanjing University, and both are students in the Department of Chemistry. They have been deeply involved in the field of biotechnology from a professional perspective.

Since its establishment in 1920, the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of Nanjing University has been one of the earliest chemistry departments in my country.

According to professional rankings, NTU’s Department of Chemistry ranks among the top three in chemistry disciplines nationwide, fifth among global scientific research institutions, and second among global universities.

In addition, there are many well-known figures in the Department of Chemistry at NTU, such as:

The founder of Legend Biotechnology, Zhang Fangliang, graduated in 1984 from the Department of Chemistry, Nantah University, and the co-founder, Fan Xiaohu, graduated from the Department of Chemistry, Nantah University. Legend Biotechnology has now become a global leader in the field of immune cell therapy.

Yuan Bin, co-founder of Ankuo Pharmaceuticals, majored in biochemistry at Nanjing University in ’87, and raised US$100 million in Series A financing.

Gu Kai, the founder of Mingjie Pharmaceuticals, graduated from the Chemistry Department of Nanjing University in 1993. He is now a subsidiary of WuXi AppTec Holdings and has been selected into the Nanjing Listed Company Incubation Library.

Yang Minmin, the founder of Nanjing listed company Yaoshi Technology, graduated from the Department of Chemistry of NTU in 1990. Since 2008, Yaoshi Technology has cooperated with almost all the top 20 pharmaceutical companies in the world.

Chen Hong, a Ph.D. in polymer chemistry and physics from NTU, founded Besaifei in Suzhou and is committed to the localization of medical device coatings.

In fact, [Biochemical Environmental Materials], as the basic subject of the scientific and technological innovation system, is like the [master switch] of technology, which has an important impact on the strength of a country's innovation system.

These things about technology entrepreneurship in colleges and universities are the epitome of the current trend of hard technology entrepreneurship, and also reflect the changes in the times brought about by changes in industrial structure.

Reference for some information: Investment community: "One chemistry department has two IPOs", Benliu Finance: "Nanjing University's chemistry department is launching IPOs in batches", Maker Commune: "One department of Nanjing University is about to have two IPOs"

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