On December 1, 2022 PrimeLink reported the company has completed a financing of several hundred million RMB, led by Xiangfeng Investment and co-invested by Fosun Pharma and Kaitai Capital (Press release, PrimeLink Biotherapeutics, DEC 1, 2022, View Source [SID1234651598]). This round of financing will mainly be used for technology research and development, talent introduction, and laboratory construction.

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Pulin Bio was founded in 2021. Its R&D center is located in Suhua Science and Technology Park, Suzhou Industrial Park. It is a biopharmaceutical company focusing on the establishment of drug delivery platforms and the development of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). It aims to use international cutting-edge technology concepts and technology platforms to develop, screen and industrialize a new generation of ADCs .

Regarding the new generation of ADC drugs, Dr. Yin, the company’s founder and chief technology officer, explained to 36Kr that the company has established a flexible and modular technology platform to synthesize ADC drug pools, and screened the optimal ADC drug composition for each target through a unique screening platform. "Because any target has a specific and suitable ADC, its structure is different, and the same set of drug compositions cannot be used for different targets." To this end, Pulin Bio has built a connector platform with independent intellectual property rights . Based on this set of technology, Pulin Bio focuses on creating a "First in class & Best in class" product pipeline.

Regarding the new generation of ADC drugs, Dr. Yin, the company’s founder and chief technology officer, explained to 36Kr that the company has established a flexible and modular technology platform to synthesize ADC drug pools, and screened the optimal ADC drug composition for each target through a unique screening platform. "Because any target has a specific and suitable ADC, its structure is different, and the same set of drug compositions cannot be used for different targets." To this end, Pulin Bio has built a connector platform with independent intellectual property rights . Based on this set of technology, Pulin Bio focuses on creating a "First in class & Best in class" product pipeline.

Under this set of R&D concepts, Dr. Yin revealed that the company follows the product pipeline development strategy of "stability and innovation" in the selection of targets and indications , that is, walking on two legs:

First, focus on clinically validated targets, especially those that have failed in Phase II and Phase III clinical trials, and analyze the reasons for failure to optimize them;
Second, develop "First in class" products.

According to Dr. Yi, the company’s founder and chief operating officer, the company’s technology platform has been verified by experimental data at the cellular level . These results suggest ample potential and prospects for the company to develop a differentiated ADC platform. It is expected that one drug will complete IND submission in 2024.

When talking about the industry prospects, Dr. Yin said that in the entire field of medical innovation, ADC drugs have unique advantages: first, small molecule drugs and antibody drugs seem to have entered a "bottleneck period". In comparison, ADC drugs have better drugability, which is also the core reason why many antibody drug companies have started to make ADCs; in addition, in terms of indications, ADCs are currently better than the popular gene and cell therapy (CGT) in terms of efficacy in treating solid tumors.

In addition, he also said that ADC drugs are also the fastest-growing sector in the pharmaceutical field, which can be reflected in the sales data of recent years: global annual sales in 2022 will be US$8.08 billion, and it is expected to reach US$22.87 billion in 2023. The compound growth rate from 2021 to 2030 will reach 16.4%, and the market prospects are excellent.

Behind the advantages, industry barriers also exist. Dr. Yin said, "Whether it is upstream target discovery, drug development, or downstream CMC and other production links, they are all very complicated and require the participation of very experienced people. However, experienced talents are scarce, and those with successful experience are even scarcer."

As a startup company, the core task of Pulin Biotech in the initial stage is to establish a new ADC drug toolbox and verify a new technology platform with independent intellectual property rights. It is worth mentioning that in order to improve Pulin Biotech’s toolbox, Pulin Biotech has reached an agreement with a US company to authorize the introduction of its antibody sugar modification and site-specific coupling technology, which enables Pulin Biotech to synthesize homogenized ADC drugs, thus providing a necessary technical option for optimizing the therapeutic window of ADC candidate drugs. According to Dr. Yin, "This technology will make it easier for us to produce ADC drugs in the future, saving a lot of time and money."

Finally, let me introduce the company team. The founder, Dr. Yin, has nearly 20 years of experience in ADC drug development, including the design and development of payloads and connectors, coupling process development, etc. He has worked at Mersana Therapeutics for 15 years and has dozens of international patents. Dr. Yin is the number one employee of Mersana and the core inventor of Mersana’s first and second generation linkers. He has led the team through the cycle from early exploration to IND research, forming Mersana’s unique technology platform. At present, Mersana’s technology platform has derived a rich product line. The core product has completed phase III clinical trials and will submit a BLA application. There are also multiple pipelines that are undergoing clinical research or forming strategic cooperation with international pharmaceutical companies.

In addition, Dr. Yi, the company’s founder and COO, has 15 years of experience and knowledge in antibody and ADC drugs, and has participated in the research and development of two ADC drugs. Currently, the company has more than 20 people, with a "Bo content" of more than 50% .

The company has now launched a new round of financing.