Founded in 2010, Binhui Biopharm is a leading biotech dedicated to oncolytic virus immuno-oncology. Its drug candidate BS001 (OH2) injection is the world's first novel oncolytic virus candidate drug that selects herpes simplex virus type II (HSV2) as a carrier, clinical trials have been approved by NMPA China and FDA successively.
EqualOcean analyst Jizhen Huang talked to DNY Capital, one of the company’s financial backers, to get a clearer picture of why Binhui has won the favor of venture capitalists. Lin Yunfeng (林云峰), the founding partner at DNV Capital, shared his thoughts on biotech-focused investment in Binhui Biopharm and beyond.
Wuhan Binhui Biopharm (Chinese: 武汉滨会生物) recently announced the completion of a CNY 300 million (USD 47 Million) Series B+ financing round.
This round of funding was led by Yangtze River Pharmaceutical Group and jointly backed by DNV Capital, Jointown Pharmaceutical Group, Ming Capital and Hubei Provincial High-Tech Industry Investment Group. Prior to this round, the biotech has raised a CNY 600 million Series A round of funding in 2021.
Lin Yunfeng, founding partner of DNV Capital, yesterday spoke to EqualOcean about his reasons for investing in Binhui Biopharm.
“Throughout the history of life science, from chemical drugs to biopharma and high-end medical devices, we believe that the future belongs to synthetic biology and genetic engineering. Binhui is not only in line with the general direction of the life science development but also in accordance with the investment style of DNV Capital. We focus on hard-core technology. Binhui Biopharm is a pioneer with truly novel technology that aligns with our investment logic.” said Mr. Lin.
More specifically, Binhui Biopharm established an immunotherapy platform based on HSV2, which is the first new oncolytic virus in China with completely independent intellectual property rights in China that uses herpes simplex virus type II as a carrier to enter clinical research.
Moreover, Mr. Lin added that the pipeline OH2 injection was also the only oncolytic virus candidate in China that has entered clinical phase II for both single and combined therapy with multiple indications. “With industry endorsement by strategic investors and participation among financial investors of Binhui Biopharm, we strongly believe that the market has well validated the OHSV2 platform and its drug candidate.”
Mr. Lin gave Binhui’s founding team a high rating and expressed his expectation for them to achieve higher goals.
“The founder, Dr. Liu Binlei, was the chief scientist of molecular biology in a major pharmaceutical company Boivex in the UK in the 2000s,” Lin told EqualOcean via a phone interview. “Besides, he has more than 20 years of research experience in the oncolytic virus. We highly recognize his accomplishment in this area.”
As the main research and development member of the first FDA-approved oncolytic virus drug T-VEC, Dr. Liu was fully engaged in the construction, production process and clinical treatment of the oncolytic virus. “We particularly appreciate his clinical treatment experience, which is scarce among most biotech firms. Lack of clinical experience might lead to the failure of market-proven solutions.”
After returning to China, Dr. Liu led a domestic research team to develop the tumor immunotherapy drug "Oncolytic Type II Herpes Simplex Virus" with stronger efficacy and has successively won the grants from the National Major New Drug Creation, the 973 Plan, the 863 Plan, and National Twelfth Five-Year Support Projects, and the Natural Science Foundation. These grants demonstrate the high acknowledgment by academia.
Asked about the timing of the investment, Mr. Lin Yunfeng said the essential motivation is that Binhui’s pipeline was about to enter the phase III clinical trial. “We expect the blockbuster will be launched soon. We are less inclined to invest in pure concepts,” he said.
Another major consideration is Binhui’s construction in 2021 of nucleic acid and recombinant protein platforms, which Mr. Lin and his team found to be “mature.” The former fully possesses independent intellectual property rights while the latter has recently made a significant breakthrough.
Mr. Lin explained that the company's current recombinant novel coronavirus protein trimer vaccine technology was advanced. He pointed out that the full-length S protein trimer structure with stable properties and uniform conformation completely simulated the spatial conformation of the viral S protein, and the structure was more similar to the pre-fusion new coronavirus S protein in the natural state, making the vaccine high safety profile, strong immune protection with few side effects.
In addition, protein purification is also one of the most critical factors in the preparation of recombinant protein vaccines. Binhui has developed a know-how affinity purification system, which can purify trimeric proteins in one step with a purification rate of 95%.
The two R&D platforms are based on innovative technologies such as self-developed LNP delivery systems, various RNA structures, trimeric protein structures, and protein purification systems for molecular clip antibody preparation. The new platforms are vital to facilitating clinical development in terms of strong specificity, rich targets, and long-lasting efficacy.
“In addition, the platform has its own LNP delivery system with higher encapsulation efficiency and more delivery stability, stronger targeting, and better cost control. Binhui's excellent cost control is a major highlight,” Mr. Lin commented. “The company also adopts the non-capped structure in its innovations to avoid immune homology caused by mRNA and ensure sufficient stability and translation efficiency. These silver bullets intrigue me as well.”
These platforms can not only independently develop oncology drugs, chronic disease drugs, and therapeutic and preventive vaccines but also foster synergies to promote new drug development and improve drug efficacy.
Mr. Lin also shared his insights on life science investment. He believes that the development of life science will always lead to a better quality of human life. It is crucial for excellent investors to look at the bigger picture, be conscious of geographic and ethnic differences and grasp the trends in the context of globalization, and thus seize the investment opportunities.
DNV Capital is committed to contributing to the well-being of human beings under the leadership of a holistic globalization perspective. “To strive for a healthy life for all human beings,” Mr. Lin summarized.