by Xinhua writer Luo Jingjing
NEW YORK, April 10 (Xinhua) -- U.S.-China partnership in the biotech sector is promising and will benefit both patients and investors in the two countries, said U.S. biotech firms and investors.
"There are many very smart scientists (in China), and they are very entrepreneurial ... We think China is a big opportunity for our (biotech drug) products," RJ Tesi, chief executive officer and chief medical officer of San Diego-based immunology company INmune Bio, told Xinhua in an interview on Tuesday after ringing the Nasdaq Stock Market closing bell here.
INmune Bio recognized very early that there were investors and capital in China, and it wanted to diversify its capital base beyond North America, so it selected Univest Securities, a U.S.-based financial service provider founded primarily by Chinese-Americans, as the lead underwriter, in a bid to help it connect with Chinese investors and Chinese market, explained Tesi.
He noted that "it's a strategy that has paid off well."
"We think it's a good investment opportunity to act as lead placement agent of INmune Bio, so we decided to help them get listed in Nasdaq and conduct the initial public offering," said Guo Yi, chief operation officer of Univest Securities, citing the "high quality of INmune Bio's immunotherapies."
Univest Securities took INmune Bio to 13 Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong, for road-show, helped it arrange business meetings with Chinese capital investment companies, and discussed collaborative opportunities with China's State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), according to Guo.
Chinese medical establishments and investors are eagerly searching for quality biotech programs in the United States. The Chinese medical institutes will cooperate with U.S. biotech companies to license in their technologies, initiate clinical trials upon the approval of SFDA, and ultimately sell the legal drugs. Such cooperation has been normal in the Chinese market, Guo said.
"About 30 percent investors of INmune Bio are from the Chinese mainland," Guo said, adding that "Univest Securities has a dream to bring quality U.S. technologies to China and benefit the Chinese people."
Share price of INmune Bio surged 1.84 dollars, or 21.40 percent, on Tuesday to close at 10.44 U.S. dollars per share.
"I think the fact that the share price is beginning to move is a reflection that people have begun to understand all our programs, understand what we're trying to do, and hopefully reflects the fact that they think we have great prospects," Tesi said with excitement.
"If you make patients better, investors do well. And those are two customers, investors and patients... They're equally important," he added.
INmune Bio went public in Nasdaq Stock Market on Feb. 4 with public offering price at 8 dollars per share. The company aimed to raise up to 20 million dollars to fund its research and drug development activities.
It is a clinical-stage biotechnology company that focuses on reprogramming the innate immune system to fight diseases, such as cancer, neurodegenerative disease, malignancy and Alzheimer's disease.
