Among the many research directions in the field of life sciences, cell pyrolysis is now hot.
At the beginning of this year, Pyrotech Therapeutics was formally established. Academician Shao Feng is the co-founder. His other identity is a scientist. The most important scientific research result is the study of cell scorch. This adds fire to the research on cell scorch that has continued to heat up.
Pyrocytosis is a kind of cell caused by inflammasome. is programmed to die. As the cell membrane ruptures, the released contents can activate the strong immune response in the body.
What is the application prospect of pyrolysis in the field of disease treatment? The test results show that in the treatment of breast cancer, a small number of tumor cells induce pyrolysis, which will cause T cell-mediated immune response, thereby inhibiting tumor growth; in the treatment of sepsis, it occurs in the circulatory system cells infected by bacteria. Before scorch, as long as any one of its links is inhibited, sepsis caused by excessive scorch caused by bacterial infection can be prevented. The mortality rate of sepsis is as high as 30%-70%. There are no effective drugs so far. The search for related inhibitors has attracted the attention of the drug research and development field and the industry.
At present, immunotherapy is widely used in tumor treatment, and it has also spawned a large domestic PD-1 antibody drug R&D and production enterprise. However, the effectiveness of a single PD-1 inhibitor is only about 20%, even if the combination of drugs can improve For its effectiveness, cancer, which is the second leading cause of death worldwide, also requires more breakthroughs in therapy. The research results of cell pyrolysis are a potential new direction of tumor immunotherapy.
What substance and what mechanism ultimately triggers cell pyrosis is the research topic of academician Shao Feng, the founder of Yanming Biology, for many years.Among them, there are potential targets for immuno-tumor therapy, and further, agonists that can activate this target may become a new direction for the development of anti-tumor drugs.
It is a great waste to let scientific research results with application potential lie in the paper or in the laboratory. Zeng Yu, founder and partner of Heyu Capital, who was involved in early investment in the medical circuit 6 years ago, also thinks that the next big thing she believes in (The Next Big Thing) is the original and innovative First-in -Class innovative medicine, and Shao Feng is the pioneer of "original" scientific research she has been looking for in the academic world.
From the dual identities of scientist to superimposed entrepreneur, Zeng Yu and her team are looking forward to this step that Shao Feng has taken.
Founder and managing partner of MSA Capital, Zeng Yu
captures early opportunities
In October last year, Yanming Bio was formally established. In January this year, fewer than three were established Yanming Biotechnology completed an angel round of financing, which was co-invested by funds such as MSA Capital, Eli Lilly Asia Fund (LAV), and Fengrui Capital. A few days ago, Yanming Biotechnology announced that its R&D center in Zhongguancun Life Science Park, Beijing, was officially put into use, covering an area of 3,400 square meters. Currently, more than forty researchers have carried out multiple new drug R&D projects with new targets here.
For Zeng Yu, the target of Yanming Biology was determined early in the morning. In the field of venture capital for 20 years, Zeng Yu’s identity has changed several times after 4-5 cycles. From FA to investment fund, and now to direct investment, she has a gorgeous portfolio of invested companies. List- Huada Gene, Yidu Technology, BOSS direct hire, Weilai Automobile and so on.
The unrepeatable working experience gave Zeng Yu a keen sense of the direction of early investment and the selection of targets.When she first came into contact with Shao Feng, she determined that Shao Feng is the best candidate for both investment and technology. The only thing he lacks is a manager.
At the 2019 " Future Science Award" awards ceremony, Shao Feng was one of the winners, and Zeng Yu, who was sitting in the guest seat, was one of the founding directors of " Future Forum", and the forum covered areas Including physics, chemistry, mathematics, life sciences, medical treatment, technology, topics ranging from artificial intelligence and future computers. The "Future Science Award" is also called "China's Nobel Prize" by the industry.
Shao Feng stepped onto the podium, but he was very different from the image Zeng Yu saw in the photo. More than that, Shao Feng’s acceptance speech also impressed Zeng Yu. He said that is a great science In the difficult process, we often face 90% or even 95% failures, but we must always tell ourselves and tell the team "we can definitely do it", and in the end we did get most of it.
Three months before the awards, Shao Feng received a phone call. Although his performance was calm, he secretly made up his mind that Shao Feng began to lose weight in order to appear on stage for ten minutes. The winner Zeng Yu saw was 15 kilograms thinner than before. Even if outside of scientific research, willing to leave the comfort zone, good at setting goals, and able to achieve strict self-discipline, Academician Shao Feng's highly unified style of behavior and emphasis on commitment are also rare qualities among entrepreneurs.
" I never believe in talent, because there are too many smart people. But I especially like to see an entrepreneur All in Conviction, the strength of this belief will determine the success or failure of things. " Zeng Yu said.
After the award ceremony, Zeng Yu has been following Shao Feng's dynamics and spent more than half a year encouraging Shao Feng to start his own business. Until the summer of 2020, Shao Feng and partner Deng Tianjing made the decision to start a business. "It is necessary to turn the research results into medicines and treatments used in hospitals," this is Shao Feng's simple expression of his original intention of starting a business at a public event. For Zeng Yu, there is finally a rare investment opportunity.
Zeng Yu thinks," is a perfect team, very complementary. One is a world-class scientist and the other is an international industry expert. ”
Before becoming the founder and CEO of Yanming Biotechnology, Deng Tianjing and Bosch served as Baonuo Technology (BioDuro) China CEO and President of BioDuro-Sundia Global Pharmaceutical Research, Deng Tianjing has served for more than 15 years in the "Whampoa Military Academy" where Baonuo is a new drug research and development company.
For the early investment in innovative drugs and the medical industry, the team’s collocation is a key element that Zeng Yuhui will focus on. In the field, even if most scientists can learn management skills, we don’t expect it to happen, because it is a waste of social resources. Top scientists with top managers, everyone has their own strengths, is a perfect and pragmatic combination."
In addition, there are two key conditions- masters the cutting-edge technology of biotechnology, and sees the big trend in advance.
The next golden age belongs to the original innovative medicine. All the advantages of
cannot withstand the trend. This is fully explained in the process of the mobile Internet almost banning the PC Internet.
Zeng Yu has been on the battlefield for a long time, and the air vents that have been formed are not attractive. She is more keen to rush to the next flash point in advance. This is also an important reason why Zeng Yuneng reached out to help when BGI was cold, and gained insight into the development prospects of medical AI big data to become an early investor in Yidu Technology.
Seeing the premise of the explosion target in advance, Zeng Yu believes that it is to see the general trend and find "The Next Big Thing".
and Jade Capital’s first medical track, before Zeng Yu became interested in this field, she was excited that the development of AI technology and biotechnology are reaching the peak, when the two converge at the peak,Will inevitably produce large-scale new business models.
A new drug will take three long steps from R&D to marketing, from preclinical research, phase I, phase II, and phase III clinical trials, and phase IV clinical phase monitoring after marketing. The cost is one billion U.S. dollars during the period, and the entire process is average. It takes more than ten years and belongs to the "darkroom operation" in which it is difficult for capital to see the whole picture.
"The combination of biotechnology, AI and IT technology will improve the efficiency of new drug research and development, and will also make the entire process more transparent." Zeng Yu believes that is in the field of pharmaceutical research and development, although entrepreneurs and capital are currently influx There is still a market for generic drugs, but in the next ten or even twenty years, it will be the true golden age of source innovative drugs.
In Zeng Yu’s view, China’s patent protection system is becoming more and more complete, the number of papers published by Chinese scientists in the field of biotechnology in international top-level academic journals has surged, and the VC and PE industries are also actively transforming scientific research results. The willingness to invest, and the emergence of mature and professional biotechnology management talents, these are all landmark changes in the arrival of the "golden age".
"We are constantly learning and expanding our team internally, as if we are on the go-the trend is coming, everyone must clearly see that there is also a strong Conviction for this trend, believe in it, and invest in it." Under this general trend, scientists who have been accumulating in related fields are willing to stand up and start their own businesses. This is something Zeng Yu thinks is very rare and valuable.
In foreign countries, it is common for scientists to start a business, but in China, it is a rare event to "pull" scientists out of the laboratory. However, as scientific research enters extremely subdivided fields, the transformation of biotechnology scientific research results has a clear application direction, targeted drugs for cancer patients , antibody drugs , and vaccines against various popular viruses , Is a good example, there are more genetic diseases waiting to end the dilemma of no medicine available. The industry’s pace of catching up with scientific research is accelerating. Scientists have been "launched" from the laboratory by the general trend of development. The power of science and technology is also being converted into productivity for real money.
At the same time,There are also frequent releases of favorable policies as support, and the change in attitude of the capital market's embrace with arms, which together form the basis for scientists to "come out".
Since the deepening of medical reform in 2015 , encouragement of innovation has become an important direction. China has joined ICH and MAH successively, and synchronized clinical trials with the world, and speeded up the review and approval of new drugs. The data shows that from 2018 to 2020, the number of China's first-class innovative drugs has reached 37, from the previous average of one per year to an average of one monthly approval. This has stimulated entrepreneurial enthusiasm in the field of innovative drugs.
In April 2018, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange revised the Main Board Listing Rules and added Chapter 18A "Biotech Companies", allowing biotech companies with no income or profits to submit listing applications. In July 2019, the Science and Technology Innovation Board was launched. The fifth set of listing standards has no impact indicators on the company's revenue, net profit, and cash flow. It is almost "tailor-made" for biomedical companies.
"The open access to the secondary market has given early investors in the primary market more confidence to deploy long-term innovative drug research and development, and the entire original innovation system is initially formed. " said Zeng Yu.
Betting on innovative drugs, patience, and long-term flow
Since the millennium, Internet entrepreneurship and venture capital have grown together, but the investment experience summarized in the TMT field is not suitable for the pharmaceutical competition. road.
"In the mobile Internet industry, once the product has been polished from 0 to 1, there will be a very rapid explosion. From 1 to 100 is the state of Go Viral, it is an exponential growth." Zeng Yu said medicine is different. It does not need money to buy traffic or subsidies to quickly occupy the market. “Medical investment must be patient and grow up with the team. The entire cycle will start at least 10 years.”
The growth of innovative drug companies Very slow, complicated steps, basic research and drug discovery with inestimable time,Through pre-clinical research, then clinical trials are carried out, including phase I safety testing, phase II drug effectiveness testing, and phase III expanded effectiveness testing. After the market is launched, it will face the monitoring of efficacy and adverse reactions after application to a wide range of populations. , Which is the fourth clinical phase. And this is still a game of 0 and 1, in which any step can not be stepped on, and ultimately it is futile.
Because of the long cycle and many steps, in Zeng Yu's view, what pharmaceutical startups need is a large amount of intensive financial support. "I would rather see sustained long-term funding to support them."
6 Over the years, Heyu Capital has placed a heavy bet on the biotechnology track, built a medical investment team, and assembled top experts in the industry. So far, more than 100 investments have been made in TMT and medical track.
To enter the pharmaceutical investment track, capital needs to do a lot of preliminary preparations, not only to identify track attributes, but also to have a sufficient professional team. In Heyu Capital, in addition to the self-built medical investment team, top scientists in the pharmaceutical field, professional consulting companies, and the founders of Heyu Capital's invested pharmaceutical companies have formed a powerful "external brain", which cannot be done in the process of project due diligence. The omitted link.
"These three types of'external brains' are helping us to see the corners that we may not see clearly. It is a process of continuous consolidation and Reference Check to ensure that we have a high probability of investing in a good company."
See the project The more, the more I feel that I am poor in knowledge, and Zeng Yu is not satisfied with the achievements in front of him. Continuous communication and meetings are already her way of life, meeting 5 or 6 entrepreneurs every working day. She said, “If you haven’t talked to a smart brain for a week or touched a new field, then this week will have been for nothing. However, this has not happened so far.”
But speaking of every investment, Zeng Yu’s answer is "walking on thin ice" and "awe." This sense of awe is especially evident on the medical track. But this is an industry that Heyu Capital is optimistic about and has a strong belief, and it is also a part of Heyu Capital's Impact Investment.
(This article was first published in Titanium Media App,Author丨Yaru Yang, Editor丨Cheng Sun)
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