On 31 March 2022, Legend Capital’s portfolio company Jiangsu Recbio Technology Co., Ltd. (Recbio, HKG: 2179), a leading novel vaccines company, went public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The listing makes Recbio “the first HPV vaccine stock in Hong Kong” and “the first novel adjuvant vaccine stock in Hong Kong”. Recbio is expected to inject new vitality into the capital market in Hong Kong.
Recbio is a novel vaccine company driven by independent novel adjuvant technology. It has built a comprehensive and high-valued vaccine portfolio consisting of 12 candidates, covering cervical cancer, COVID-19, adult tuberculosis, shingles, HFMD, influenza, etc. Recbio is primarily focused on the R&D of HPV vaccine candidates. Its core product REC603, a recombinant HPV 9-valent vaccine, is currently under phase III clinical trial, and is expected to become the first approved domestic HPV 9-valent vaccine in China. In addition, Recbio has also begun to deploy in the mRNA vaccine field and is currently developing the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine.
Recbio has constructed the three core technology platforms consisting of independent novel adjuvants, protein engineering and immunological evaluation. It is one of the few companies capable of independent development of novel adjuvants and the novel adjuvants it developed have been successfully applied in various innovative vaccines such as COVID-19 vaccines, HPV vaccines and shingles vaccines.
Legend Capital led Recbio’s Series B financing in 2020, through a coordinated investment of the comprehensive growth fund and the healthcare fund and re-upped on its Series C financing in 2021, marking Recbio another successful case towards Legend Capital’s multi-fund coordinated investment. As the major institutional investor to Recbio, Legend Capital provides Recbio with multi-faceted support involving corporate governance, business strategy, technical route, R&D resources, management improvement and financial support.
Dr. Liu Yong, the Founder, Chairman of the Board, and General Manager of Recbi, said, “We are much appreciated Legend Capital’s long-term and firm support to Recbio. As the institutional investor with the largest shareholding in the company, Legend Capital’s investment philosophy of ‘Business First, People Crucial’ is highly compatible with our corporate culture. Legend Capital has always supported our management team in major decision-making and continued to assist in the development, becoming one of the most trusted and respected investors of Recbio. The listing is just a new chapter of Recbio, and the management team hopes to work closely with all the investors represented by Legend Capital to write a new legend!”
Hank Zhou, the Co-Chief Investment Officer of Legend Capital, said: “Congratulations to Recbio and its team led by founder Dr. Liu Yong. Liu has been engaged in vaccine research and development for over two decades, with high academic status and extensive experience in the industry. Liu’s team has been deeply involved in the field of vaccine research and development for many years. Its vaccine portfolio strategically aimed at major disease and the team is actively deploying large-scale production. We admire Liu’s great enthusiasm for the vaccine industry and his strong sense of responsibility and commitment. Recbio is now the leading vaccine company in China. After the successful listing, we believe that Recbio will continue to make breakthroughs in its core field of new adjuvant and vaccines to benefit more patients.”
Frank Hong, the Managing Director of Legend Capital, said: “After the outbreak of the pandemic, the vaccine industry has stepped into a high-speed development stage after years of accumulation on technology and talent pool. Recbio is one of the few vaccine companies with high-quality technology platforms, which can continuously produce high-quality vaccine products to meet unmet clinical needs. We are optimistic about Recbio’s future of its core pipelines, including the HPV vaccine, recombinant shingles vaccine REC610 and COVID-19 vaccine. Advanced with its disruptive technology in the field of recombinant protein vaccines, Recbio is expected to be a company with strong competitiveness in the global market.”
Legend Capital has long paid close attention to investments in the field of life sciences. In addition to Recbio, there are other portfolio companies listed on A shares or H shares, including Pharmaron Inc. (300759.SZ; 03759.HK), KingMed Diagnostics (603882.SH), WuXi AppTec(603259.SH; 02359.HK), WuXi Biologics (02269.HK), Innovent Biologics (01801.HK), Berry Genomics (000710.SZ), Harbour BioMed (02142.HK), New Horizon Health (06606.HK), Chemclin Diagnostics (688468.SH), etc.
