Beijing Scitech-MQ Pharmaceuticals Limited (hereinafter referred to as “Scitech Pharma”), a leading Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven drug discovery company, announced it has raised over RMB100 million in a Series A+ financing round. This round of financing included participation from professional institutions such as Tigermed Equity Investment Partnership, Elikon Venture, and Shanghai Moderation Private Investment Fund (Limited Partnership). Capital raised in this round will be used to accelerate the clinical trials of the company's new oncology drug candidates ST-1898 and ST-1703.
Scitech Pharma focuses on unmet medical needs and has established a proprietary AI-driven technology platform, SigmaHit®, which performs ultra-large-scale drug design and drug screening, dedicated to the development of drugs in the fields of oncology, autoimmune system, and central nervous system.
ST-1898, which is currently in Phase II clinical trials, is a multi-target tyrosine kinase inhibitor. Through the completely novel design of core structure, ST-1898 demonstrated an effective inhibition against multi-targets which are highly relevant to the development and metastasis of tumors. This is extremely helpful for achieving synergistic and combined effects on these targets, enabling the long-lasting inhibition against tumors. ST-1898 has been conducted in clinical trials for kidney cancer, melanoma, thyroid cancer and other tumors led by industry leading PIs, and the available clinical data demonstrated good safety and efficacy, fulfilling the original intention of the drug design.
Wang Kexiu, Chairman, and Dr. Zhang Qiang, President and Chief Scientific Officer of Scitech Pharma, said: “We are deeply grateful for the trust and support from our investors in this round. Scitech Pharma adheres to the spirit of seeking truth from facts, with a mission to meet patient needs. Leveraging the technical advantages of our proprietary AI-driven ultra-large-scale drug design and drug screening platform, SigmaHit®, we are advancing clinical trials in our existing pipeline while extensively collaborating with industry partners to make good use of mutual resources, pushing forward the development of new drugs, and providing better treatment options for patients.”
Tigermed Equity Investment Partnershipsaid: “With the help of SigmaHit®, a proprietary AI-driven ultra-large-scale drug design and drug screening platform, Scitech Pharma has developed multiple compounds targeting unmet medical needs and advanced them to the clinical stage. We look forward to accelerating clinical development by combining strengths with various partners to benefit patients sooner.”
Investors including Elikon Venture and Shanghai Moderation Private Investment Fund have expressed their strong confidence in the Scitech Pharma team and product pipeline, and are highly optimistic about the long-term development prospect of Scitech Pharma. “The company has obtained several compounds that have advanced to the clinical trial stage through its proprietary AI-driven ultra-large-scale drug design and drug screening platform and ultra-large-scale virtual compound library. Preliminary clinical trial data shows potential for further development in a variety of tumors,” said Elikon Venture. “We are eager to see the company achieve expected clinical trial outcomes by integrating external clinical research resources, ultimately benefiting patients sooner.” Shanghai Moderation Private Investment Fund said: “We are delighted to witness the outstanding safety profile and therapeutic efficacy of the drugs designed and screened by SigmaHit® in clinical trials, which has garnered recognition from leading clinical experts. The Scitech Pharma team demonstrates unwavering focus, pragmatism, and strong learning capabilities. With a deep sense of responsibility towards patients, physicians, and investors, the team is dedicated to advancing business initiatives from end to end, rapidly pushing innovative drugs into clinical use to benefit patients as soon as possible.”
About Scitech Pharma and SigmaHit®
Scitech Pharma is an innovative drug research and development company driven by its groundbreaking SigmaHit®, a proprietary AI-driven hyper-large-scale drug design and drug screening platform. Established in 2015, the company has focused on addressing unmet medical needs in oncology, autoimmune system, and central nervous system. Over nearly a decade, Scitech Pharma has refined its core technologies, team building, management system, intellectual property strategies, and commercialization approaches, forming unique competitive advantages to ensure sustainable growth.
SigmaHit® is currently the only known proprietary AI-driven hyper-large-scale drug design and drug screening platform in the world capable of screening trillions of compounds based on target structures. It comprises of three technological modules: a trillion-scale compound generation module, a lead compound discovery module based on three-dimensional structures, and a deep learning module based on experimental data. These modules support each other to create an integrated ‘targeted drug design and drug screening’ system spanning multiple disciplines of chemistry, physics, computer science, and biology. This system automatically generates virtual lead compounds that meet specific design requirements, enabling Scitech Pharma to efficiently design compounds with unique properties and functions, such as multi-targeting, dual-targeting, covalent binding, and blood-brain barrier penetration through the SigmaHit® technology platform.
About Tigermed Equity Investment Partnership
Tigermed Equity Investment Partnership is an investment platform under Tigermed Pharmaceuticals (stock code: 300347.SZ/3347.HK), focusing on investments in projects and funds within the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors.
About Elikon Venture
Elikon Venture is a professional institution composed of a team with extensive industrial and investment experience, specializing in early-stage investments in innovative biopharmaceutical fields. Starting with the goal of meeting rigid clinical demands, Elikon Ventures aims to collaborate with companies and entrepreneurs who possess independent intellectual property and leading global technologies to jointly grow and develop optimal products and solutions that can achieve clinical benefits, thus serving patients and society.
About Shanghai Moderation Private Investment Fund (Limited Partnership)
Founded in 2015, Shanghai Moderation Private Investment Fund (Limited Partnership) specializes in early and growth-stage equity investment in pharmaceutical, health, and their upstream and downstream innovative start-ups. The firm selects teams committed to addressing genuine medical needs, leveraging cutting-edge science and technology as the foundation for breakthroughs to solve key industry pain points, supporting businesses with industrial experience and resources to foster their continued growth and expansion.
