Despite the biopharma company’s focus on overseas markets, it has yet to rise above cut-throat competition in the domestic CRO/CDMO market
Drug discovery firm Shanghai Pharma Resources (Chinese:上海泓博智源医药) plans to raise CNY 477 million (USD 72.6 million) from two projects.
This news comes after the firm was given the greenlight for an IPO, with CITIC Securities as the sponsor. This result was announced a day earlier after the company passed the 21st review meeting by the GEM (Growth Enterprise Market) listing committee in 2022.
The proceeds from the IPO will be utilized to construct preclinical new drug R&D bases and supplement the working capital.
Since its establishment in December of 2007, Pharma Resources, a CRO/CDMO service provider, has collaborated with global customers and business partners, with the aim of becoming a leading preclinical service provider and API/key intermediates manufacturer.
Engaged in the R&D, production and sale of international cutting-edge high-end chemical raw materials and intermediates, the company’s products include Ticagrelor, Peramivir, Velpatasvir and Sofosbuvir.
Furthermore, Pharma Resources has obtained 23 domestic and foreign patent authorizations, including 22 domestic patents and one US patent.
To date, Pharma Resources’s customers for new drug R&D services are mainly European and American innovative drug R&D companies, and more than half of its commercialized production customers are from Europe and India. Pharma Resources has begun to focus on the development of the domestic market. However, due to the increasingly fierce competition, it needs to make a greater effort to gain a stronger foothold in the market.
According to the prospectus, in terms of the competitive landscape, the firm’s main competitors in drug discovery and process R&D include large companies with comprehensive CRO services such as WuXi AppTec(Chinese: 药明康德, SH:603259/HK:2359), Pharmaron (Chinese: 康龙化成, SHE:300759) and more customer-focused mid-sized CRO companies such as Medicilon (SHA:688202).
Pharma Resources was listed on the National Equities Exchange and Quotations (NEEQ) in May 2016 (ticker: 837359) and was delisted from the NEEQ in December 2019.