On February 11, Biointron Biologics released its tutoring filing report for the public offering of shares to unspecified qualified investors and listing on the Beijing Stock Exchange (BSE). The tutoring work is led by Haitong Securities Co., Ltd., with Grandway Law Offices and Grant Thornton China (Special General Partnership) responsible for legal and financial matters respectively. The tutoring agreement was signed on January 23, 2025.
Company Background
Biointron Biologics, established on March 23, 2012, has a registered capital of 59.6 million yuan, with legal representative Zha Changchun. The company’s controlling shareholder is Zha Changchun, who directly holds 21.63% of the shares. Biointron operates in the research and experimental development sector. The company applied for listing on the National Equities Exchange and Quotations (NEEQ) in December 2024 and was accepted. It previously attempted to list on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange’s ChiNext board, submitting its application in June 2023 and being accepted, but withdrew the application in June 2024.
Business and Financing
Biointron Biologics, a Contract Research Organization (CRO) focusing on antibody early discovery, relies on its industry-leading high-throughput recombinant antibody expression platform to build a multi-platform for early-stage antibody R & D. It is a national high-tech enterprise, a Shanghai Technology Giant cultivation enterprise, and a Shanghai Specialized, Precise, Unique, and New enterprise. In August 2022, Biointron completed a Series B financing round of nearly 500 million yuan, jointly completed by more than ten institutions including Cornerstone Capital, Jifeng Capital, and Tianhui Capital. The funds will be mainly used for expanding CRO service capacity, building intelligent manufacturing R & D service production lines, and strengthening overseas channel construction.
Products and Services
Biointron’s main products and services include antibody and protein expression services, antibody discovery and optimization services, and stable cell strain development services for biopharmaceutical companies. It also engages in the production and sales of a small amount of general antibodies/proteins and other research reagents.
Regulatory Inquiries and Responses
In March 2024, the company released its response report to the second round of review inquiries. The regulator asked the company to explain whether the resale of cell strains and re-authorization are common industry models, and whether there are risks of infringement or unilateral contract termination, as well as whether the “China-US Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement” and foreign policies have a significant adverse impact on the company’s export business. Biointron stated that its cell strain sales and re-authorization business do not involve intellectual property infringement or the risk of unilateral authorization termination.
The company signed an agreement with the UK’s Public Health England, obtaining the rights to develop, commercialize, and re-authorize the CHO-K1 cell line from the European Collection of Authenticated Cell Cultures (ECACC). Since drug production has requirements for cell strain sources, and the ownership of this cell strain is clear, it is an industry norm for pharmaceutical companies to obtain authorization from suppliers. Therefore, the company’s cell strain sales and re-authorization are common industry models, with no risk of infringement or unilateral contract termination. In addition, the export of CRO companies is mainly driven by commercial factors, and the “China-US Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement” and related foreign import and export policies are expected to have little impact on the company’s export business. During the reporting period, the company’s export sales continued to grow, reaching 10.64 million yuan, 24.42 million yuan, 66.72 million yuan, and 71.5 million yuan respectively.
Financial Performance
Financial reports show that in the first half of 2024, Biointron Biologics achieved operating income of 191 million yuan and a net profit of 53 million yuan. The company had cash and cash equivalents of 547 million yuan at the end of the period, with a debt-to-asset ratio of 8.76%.-Fineline Info & Tech
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