China’s Adagene Gears Up for IPO, Seeking 125 Million for Cancer Therapy Development

Targeting up to 125 million, China’s cancer immunotherapy developer Adagene filed for IPO on January 19th and will later list on the Nasdaq.

Based in Suzhou, China, Adagene is leveraging its proprietary AI discovery platform, namely the Dynamic Precision Library (DPL platform), to develop a variety of effective antibody-based cancer treatments.

Before the IPO, Adagene has raised above 150 million since 2014 from eight investors, including WuXi AppTec, General Atlantic, Sequoia, GP Capital, Eight Roads, F Prime, New World TMT, Greater Bay Area Homeland Investments.

Future Use of Proceeds

Most of the investment will go into drug R&D with 43% to boost the technical and AI platform enhancement and future research of preclinical candidates, and 26% to fund Phase 1 trial of ADG106, one of the leading drug candidates of Adagene and the advancement to phase @. Another 26% will cover the development of two candidates, ADG126 and ADG116, cost of the Phase 1 trial, and entering Phase 2 trials. The rest will support general corporate purposes.

Clinical Progress of Three Candidate Drugs

ADG106, a human ligand-blocking agonistic anti-CD137 mAb, is currently in Phase 1b/2 clinical trials.

ADG126, a fully human anti-CTLA-4 SAFEbody and shown more safety and durability than the commonly used CTLA 4 therapy in preclinical trials, has applied for IND.

ADG116, a fully human anti-CTLA-4 NEObody for treating patients with advanced/metastatic solid tumors and/or relapsed/refractory non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, has entered Phase 1a clinical trial.

DPL Platform for Drug Optimization

The DPL platform consists of three technologies, which include drug discovery, masking antibodies to only bind targets after conditional activation, and drug optimization and delivery. The platform is expected to increase the safety and efficacy of the antibodies and boost the R&D capability.

Related Article: China’s Gracell Biotechnologies, a CAR-T Therapy Company, Targets 150 Million for IPO

References

1. https://www.renaissancecapital.com/IPO-Center/News/75318/Chinese-cancer-biotech-Adagene-files-for-a-$125-million-US-IPO
2. https://www.adagene.com/
3. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1818838/000104746921000130/a2242683zf-1.htm#ca17601_prospectus_summary

Author

Tyler Chen

"Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died."- Erma Bombeck