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Jul 31, 2023

Centrum Pharmaceuticals Secures Over CNY 1.1 Bn in New Financing Round

Sinotau announced the completion of a new round of financing of over CNY 1.1 billion. The funds raised in this round will continue to be utilized in the research, development and clinical application

Sinotau announced the completion of a new round of financing of over CNY 1.1 billion. The funds raised in this round will continue to be utilized in the research, development and clinical application of diagnostic and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals to bring health benefits to Chinese patients. It is also reported that this is the largest amount of market-based financing completed in the pharmaceutical sector so far in 2023, reflecting the capital market's high recognition of Sinotau.

Sinotau is an innovative pharmaceutical enterprise specializing in the research and development, production, clinical application and academic promotion of radiopharmaceuticals, headquartered in the capital city of Beijing, and at the same time, it has modern radiopharmaceuticals R&D centers and production bases in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Guangdong and Sichuan, as well as branches in the United States, and has established cooperative relationships with more than a dozen multinational pharmaceutical companies.

Sinotau from 2014 for the layout of the nuclear drug field, relying on the world's leading radiopharmaceutical precision diagnostic R & D resources, in the field of tumors, neurodegenerative diseases and cardiovascular and other areas have taken the lead in the layout of a variety of targeted therapy and precision diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals, while Sinotau integrates the highest quality of domestic radiopharmaceuticals upstream and downstream industry chain resources, has considerable core competitiveness and platform scarcity. The main trend of innovative radiopharmaceuticals is targeted therapy and precision therapy, which can "precisely guide" cancer cells to avoid "hurting the innocent" and reduce side effects while killing tumors.

The main application areas of nuclear drugs in the world are concentrated in neurology, cardiovascular and oncology, and Sinotau has completed the comprehensive layout of the three major areas. 2017 China's nuclear drug market size of about CNY 4.4 billion, is expected to reach CNY 10.6 billion in 2022, with a compound annual growth rate of 19.4% from 2017 to 2022. 19.4%. The global radiopharmaceutical market size is expected to reach USD 26 billion by 2030, and the discovery and application of new radioisotopes such as 177Lu have become the main driving force for the rapid growth of the market. However, the domestic nuclear medicine started late, and China's radiopharmaceutical market only accounts for less than 7% of the global market. With the liberalization of the domestic nuclear medicine equipment license, the implementation of the MAH system for radiopharmaceuticals and the rise of a number of innovative radiopharmaceutical companies such as Sinotau, the domestic nuclear medicine market will usher in a booming development.

Sinotau has adopted the development strategy of "first technology introduction, then independent research and development", through the joint venture company Cerveau and the U.S., Europe and other leading international nuclear drug companies and research institutes to cooperate, and has obtained a number of nuclear drug products in China and the global development and commercialization rights. With the continuous cultivation in the field of nuclear drugs, Sinotau has accumulated deeper industry knowledge, built up a professional talent team, and accumulated a rich product pipeline, and in recent years has gradually put all of its efforts on self-research.

The R&D technology barrier and production process barrier of nuclear drugs are high, which makes the market pattern highly concentrated, with Cardinal Health(Chinese：康德乐), Mallinckrodt(Chinese：万灵科), GE Healthcare（Chinese：通用医疗） and other head enterprises occupying more than 60% of the global market share. The foundation of the domestic nuclear drug industry is still very weak, the industry is immature in all aspects of support, facing a long-term dependence on imports of medical isotopes, regulatory policy lags behind, CRO service gaps and other challenges, the future market needs to be further explored.

This round of financing by SDIC VENTURE CAPITAL (Chinese：国投创业), Goldstone (Chinese：金石投资), and many other national teams, industrial groups and well-known investment institutions to participate in the investment, China Life Private Equity investment Company Limited (Chinese：国寿股权) and LAKE LOTUS LAKE CAPITAL (Chinese：荷塘创投) and other existing shareholders continue to increase the shareholding, WinX Capital(Chinese：凯乘资本) acted as exclusive financial adviser of this transaction.