Despite increasing competition, the prospect of the monoclonal antibody drug market in China remains promising.
Trinomab (Chinese: 泰诺麦博), a fully native human monoclonal antibody (mAb) drug developer, recently announced that it had completed a pre-IPO funding round worth about CNY 750 million (USD 104.51 million). This round was jointly led by Zhuhai Gree Financial Investment Management Co., Ltd. (Chinese: 格力金投) and Kingray Capital (Chinese: 熙诚金睿), with participation from Efung Capital (Chinese: 倚锋资本), Shenyin & Wanguo Investment (Chinese: 申银万国), Zhuhai Shenhonggejin Medical and Health Industry Investment Fund (Chinese: 申宏格金), Jiaxing Weilong Equity Investment (Chinese: 嘉兴维龙), and other investors. Existing shareholders China Medical System (Chinese: 康哲药业), Wuxi Guolian Capital (Chinese: 无锡国联) and Jinhang Group (Chinese: 金航集团) continued to invest.
Founded in 2015, Trinomab is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the R&D of novel fully native human mAbs. Trinomab's star products TNM001 injection (a long-acting fully native human anti-respiratory syncytial virus neutralizing antibody drug) and TNM002 injection (a recombinant anti-tetanus toxin monoclonal antibody) have entered the clinical phase 2 and phase 3 respectively.
Monoclonal antibody drugs have become one of the fastest-growing segments in the pharmaceutical industry, and the competition for the R&D of mAbs in oncology and autoimmune disorders is increasingly crowded. Trinomab has pioneered a new approach to the field of anti-infection, where there is still a significant clinical need.
The original fourth-generation antibody technology HitmAb®, differentiated advantages, and high-efficiency drug pipeline promotion make the company has been favored by the capital market, with more than CNY 2 billion secured since 2018.
Despite the fierce competition, the Chinese market for monoclonal antibody drugs will be a long-term, highly active potential market. Companies focused on mAbs include Innovent (Chinese: 信达生物), Henlius (Chinese: 复宏汉霖) and Junshi Biosciences (Chinese: 君实生物).