Chipscreen set to test Shanghai's new innovation board

The application from Shenzhen Chipscreen Biosciences Ltd. (Shenzhen, China), one of three approved this week, is moving rapidly compared with approvals for Shanghai’s main board. The innovation board accepted Chipscreen's listing application on March 27 and approved it on June 5. The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has 20 days to decide whether to register the application. Listings on the main board must be approved directly by the commission, a process that can take up to four years.

Although the innovation board would allow preprofit biotechs to list in Shanghai, Qiming Venture Partner’s Nisa Leung told BioCentury early this year that she expected the first companies selected for listing to have high growth potential and some sales because the government wants to avoid poor performance in its first offerings. At the time, Leung expected the first offerings to debut in Q3 of this year (see "Shanghai’s New Chapter").

Chipscreen reported a net profit of RMB19 million ($2.7 million) in 2018, driven by sales of its HDAC inhibitor Epidaza chidamide for non-Hodgkin and peripheral T cell lymphomas.

The company has seven other candidates in its pipeline for various cancers, Type II diabetes, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis. They range from preclinical to Phase III testing or NDA submission.

Entities associated with Chairman, General Manager and CSO Xianping Lu hold about 32% of Chipscreen’s equity, while CapitalBio holds about 12%; Pingxiang Yongzhi Yinghua Yuanfeng Investment Partnership has 7.8%; Lilly Asia Ventures has 7%; and Vertex Technology fund has 6.6%.