The Chinese economy is currently at a critical juncture of transformation and structural adjustment. Only by relying on technological innovation can China transition from a phase of rapid growth to a phase of high-quality development. Technological innovation encompasses scientific research and technological advancements, primarily referring to the creation and application of new knowledge, technologies, processes, and methods, the development of new products, and the enhancement of product capabilities and service quality. Technological innovation includes fundamental scientific research and key core technologies. The Shanghai North Bund Financial Research Institute’s Technology Innovation Weekly focuses on two major fields: intelligent technology (intelligent perception, photonic technology, etc.) and life sciences (innovative drugs, innovative medical devices, etc.).
Quick Overview of This Issue
Intelligent Technology Industry
1 Investment and Financing Dynamics
1.1 Unisoc Listed on the New Third Board
1.2 SoftBank Group Announces £400 Million Acquisition of Graphcore
1.3 UK Computing Architecture Startup Vaire Completes $4 Million Seed Round Financing
1.4 AI Startup SiliconFlow Completes Nearly 100 Million Yuan Angel+ Round Financing
2 Technology and Product Dynamics
2.1 American Figure 01 Humanoid Robot Demonstrates New Training Achievements, Capable of Performing Grabbing Tasks in Workshops
2.2 Samsung Launches First 3nm Wearable Chip: 370% Performance Improvement, Utilizing FOPLP+ePoP Packaging
2.3 Tesla Model Y Enters Government New Energy Vehicle Procurement Directory for the First Time
3 Other Dynamics
3.1 36 Semiconductor Companies Terminate IPOs in the First Half of 2024
3.2 US Government Announces $504 Million Funding for 12 Regional Technology Centers to Expand Research in AI, Semiconductor Manufacturing, etc.
Life Sciences Industry
1 Investment and Financing Dynamics
1.1 Biotechnology Company Cartesian Therapeutics Completes $130 Million Financing
1.2 Biotechnology Company Beacon Completes $170 Million Series B Financing
1.3 Kunyu Bio Receives Over 100 Million Yuan Strategic Investment from State Capital, Accelerating the Commercialization of Cancer Early Screening
2 Technology and Product Dynamics
2.1 Xinyi Capital Invests in Zhixiang Jintai’s Tetanus Monoclonal Antibody GR2001 Injection, Included in Breakthrough Therapy Designation
2.2 US NIH Begins First Human Trials of Nasal COVID Vaccine
2.3 FDA Approves Eli Lilly’s Alzheimer’s Disease Therapy
2.4 First Major Anti-Inflammatory Drug in Over a Decade Gains New Indication in the EU
3 Other Dynamics
3.1 Beijing Drug Administration, Beijing Commerce Bureau, and Beijing Customs Issue “Beijing’s Plan to Promote Drug Exports”
3.2 Over 20 New Drugs in China Obtain US FDA Fast Track Designation in 2024, Involving Companies like Hengrui Medicine and Fuliang Technology
Detailed Content of This Issue
Intelligent Technology Industry
1 Investment and Financing Dynamics
1.1 Unisoc Listed on the New Third Board
“Xi’an Unisoc UniIC” announced on July 1 via its official WeChat account that Xi’an Unisoc Semiconductor Co., Ltd. has successfully listed on the New Third Board (abbreviated as Unisoc, stock code: 874451). As one of the core enterprises under Unisoc Group, Unisoc has long been committed to the research and innovation of semiconductor storage technology, accumulating profound R&D strength and core technologies in the semiconductor storage field, forming a diversified business matrix that includes DRAM KGD, DRAM storage chips, SeDRAM, storage control chips, modules and system products, as well as design and development services.
1.2 SoftBank Group Announces £400 Million Acquisition of Graphcore
Recently, Japan’s SoftBank Group announced it will acquire struggling AI startup Graphcore for £400 million, pending review and approval by the UK government. Graphcore, founded in 2016, produces AI chips known as Intelligent Processing Units (IPUs) aimed at challenging Nvidia. In 2020, Graphcore raised $222 million at a valuation of $2.8 billion, making it one of the UK’s most promising startups.
SoftBank Group is the largest shareholder of UK semiconductor giant Arm, and this acquisition of Graphcore appears to be aimed at further expanding its semiconductor footprint and achieving synergies with Arm. However, SoftBank’s acquisition offer for Graphcore is significantly lower than the company’s overall valuation when it raised $222 million at the end of 2020 (over $2.7 billion). According to the UK’s National Security and Investment Act, this acquisition by SoftBank requires review by the UK government. Given that SoftBank holds 90% of Arm, this transaction is likely to be approved; otherwise, Graphcore may face bankruptcy.
1.3 UK Computing Architecture Startup Vaire Completes $4 Million Seed Round Financing
On July 4, UK computing architecture startup Vaire Computing Ltd. announced it has secured $4 million in seed funding and plans to launch reversible computing chips within 12 months. The company claims its mission is to create near-zero energy consumption chips for generative AI and always-on edge devices using reversible computing.
1.4 AI Startup SiliconFlow Completes Nearly 100 Million Yuan Angel+ Round Financing
Recently, AI startup SiliconFlow completed nearly 100 million yuan in Angel+ round financing. This round was led by a well-known industry player, with follow-on investments from Zhizhu AI, 360, and Tsinghua Alumni Fund, among others. Existing shareholder Yaotu Capital continued to over-participate, and Huaxing Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor. SiliconFlow is a startup focused on AI Infra (AI infrastructure), founded in August 2023. The founder, Yuan Jinhui, is the former founder and CEO of OneFlow (Yuanli Technology) and has served as a senior researcher at Microsoft Research Asia, receiving the Microsoft Research Asia Dean’s Special Award.
2 Technology and Product Dynamics
2.1 American Figure 01 Humanoid Robot Demonstrates New Training Achievements, Capable of Performing Grabbing Tasks in Workshops
According to TechWeb on July 3, the American Figure 01 humanoid robot has begun “internship” at a BMW factory. From the latest video released by Figure, this humanoid robot can now perform simple grabbing tasks in the production workshop, marking an important step for general-purpose robots in industrial applications. It is reported that Figure 01 uses an “AI-based visual model” to achieve “fully autonomous control” and is suitable for all grabbing neural networks.
2.2 Samsung Launches First 3nm Wearable Chip: 370% Performance Improvement, Utilizing FOPLP+ePoP Packaging
On July 4, Samsung Electronics officially launched its first 3nm GAA process wearable device chip, Exynos W1000, through its official website. The Exynos W1000 is Samsung’s first processor to adopt the 3nm GAA advanced process node. Thanks to its manufacturing process and packaging method, the chip’s performance has improved while maintaining a small size, allowing for more battery space in devices, thus extending battery life.
To facilitate faster switching between applications, the Exynos W1000 adopts a new CPU architecture, consisting of one 1.6GHz Cortex-A78 high-performance core and four 1.5GHz Cortex-A55 efficiency cores. This is also Samsung’s first wearable processor to use big cores, and the efficiency cores have doubled compared to the previous Exynos W930, providing an impressive performance boost.
2.3 Tesla Model Y Enters Government New Energy Vehicle Procurement Directory for the First Time
On July 4, according to the Jiangsu Government Procurement Network’s announcement of the “Jiangsu Province Party and Government Agencies, Public Institutions, and Group Organizations 2024-2025 New Energy Vehicle Framework Agreement Procurement List (III)”, the Tesla Model Y has entered the Jiangsu provincial government’s new energy vehicle procurement directory. Previously, many local institutions had issued restrictions prohibiting Tesla vehicles from entering government offices and many sensitive areas. However, with Tesla’s complete local data storage and the implementation of data security laws, the potential data security risks that Tesla once faced have been reduced to the same level as domestic smart vehicles. Additionally, the national government is continuously improving the business environment and attracting foreign investment, making Tesla’s inclusion in government procurement an important signal.
3 Other Dynamics
3.1 36 Semiconductor Companies Terminate IPOs in the First Half of 2024
According to statistics from Jiwei Network, in the first half of this year, a total of 36 semiconductor companies have terminated their IPO reviews across the three major A-share exchanges, nearly double the number from the same period last year and approaching the total number of IPO terminations for the entire previous year. In terms of fundraising amounts, the 36 companies that terminated their IPOs intended to raise a total of 38.332 billion yuan, with an average intended fundraising amount of 1.065 billion yuan per company. Among them, Hantian Tiancheng, GoerTek, and Aola Co., Ltd. intended to raise over 3 billion yuan each.
In terms of the distribution of termination times for the 36 companies, six companies terminated in January, four in February, two in March, and four in April. The number of companies terminating in May surged to nine, and in June, the number of companies terminating their IPOs further surged to eleven, marking the highest for the first half of the year.
3.2 US Government Announces $504 Million Funding for 12 Regional Technology Centers to Expand Research in AI, Semiconductor Manufacturing, etc.
On July 3, according to Bloomberg, the Biden administration announced on July 2 that it would provide $504 million in funding to 12 regional technology centers to expand research in AI, semiconductor manufacturing, and clean energy. The funded centers include technology centers in New York, Florida, Nevada, and South Carolina.
These awarded projects include providing $19 million to researchers in South Florida, focusing on sustainable development and climate adaptation infrastructure, including developing barriers to protect the area from rising sea levels; five other awardees will receive $51 million, including bases in Illinois and Indiana focusing on biomanufacturing, and engineers in Tulsa, Oklahoma, who will experiment with autonomous systems or use AI-driven drones to inspect agriculture. Additionally, the New York technology center focusing on conductor manufacturing will receive $40 million, and the Nevada technology center will receive $21 million for research on lithium batteries and electric vehicle materials.
Life Sciences Industry
1 Investment and Financing Dynamics
1.1 Biotechnology Company Cartesian Therapeutics Completes $130 Million Financing
On July 2, Cartesian Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: RNAC), a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering mRNA cell therapies for autoimmune diseases, announced it has signed a PIPE financing agreement expected to bring approximately $130 million in total proceeds before deducting placement agent fees and other issuance costs. The PIPE financing is expected to close around July 3, 2024, but is subject to customary closing conditions. The PIPE financing includes participation from new and existing investors, including HBM Healthcare Investments, Invus, Schooner Capital, Surveyor Capital, Dr. Timothy A. Springer, and other institutional investors.
1.2 Biotechnology Company Beacon Completes $170 Million Series B Financing
On July 4, Beacon Therapeutics announced it has completed $170 million in Series B financing. This financing was led by Forbion, with participation from TCGX and Advent Life Sciences, and existing investors Syncona Limited, Oxford Science Enterprises, and the University of Oxford also participated. These funds will support Beacon’s ongoing clinical development of its lead investigational gene therapy AGTC-501 for treating X-linked retinitis pigmentosa (XLRP) and support the company’s Phase 1/2 clinical trial for its dry age-related macular degeneration (dAMD) project.
1.3 Kunyu Bio Receives Over 100 Million Yuan Strategic Investment from State Capital, Accelerating the Commercialization of Cancer Early Screening
On July 5, Jiangsu Kunyu Biotechnology Co., Ltd. announced it has completed over 100 million yuan in strategic financing. This round of financing was jointly composed of strategic investments from various levels of state capital in Yangzhou, including Yangzhou Guojin Group, Yangzhou Dingyi, Longchuan Holdings, Guangling Guotou, and Jingkai Investment, fully demonstrating the industry’s high recognition and strong confidence in Kunyu Bio’s development prospects. This round of financing will further consolidate Kunyu Bio’s leading position in the field of cancer early screening and provide strong financial support for the company’s technology research and development, registration production, and commercialization.
2 Technology and Product Dynamics
2.1 Xinyi Capital Invests in Zhixiang Jintai’s Tetanus Monoclonal Antibody GR2001 Injection, Included in Breakthrough Therapy Designation
On June 28, Xinyi Capital invested in Zhixiang Jintai, announcing that the company’s investigational new drug GR2001 injection has been officially included in the breakthrough therapy designation by the Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE) of the National Medical Products Administration of China, for the prevention of tetanus. The GR2001 injection is a recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody against tetanus toxin (TeNT), registered as a Class 1 therapeutic biological product, targeting the C-terminal of TeNT.
2.2 US NIH Begins First Human Trials of Nasal COVID Vaccine
According to the NIH website on July 1, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has begun the first human trials of the investigational nasal vaccine MPV/S-2P. This vaccine was developed by the Infectious Disease Laboratory of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and may provide broad protection against new variants of the coronavirus.
2.3 FDA Approves Eli Lilly’s Alzheimer’s Disease Therapy
On July 3, the FDA approved Eli Lilly’s Kisunla (donanemab) for the treatment of adults with early symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). These patients include those with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and those in the mild dementia stage of AD, confirmed to have amyloid pathology. According to the press release, Kisunla, administered once a month, is the first therapy with evidence suggesting treatment can be stopped after amyloid plaque clearance, potentially reducing treatment costs and the frequency of infusions.
2.4 First Major Anti-Inflammatory Drug in Over a Decade Gains New Indication in the EU
On July 3, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) approved Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Sanofi’s major therapy Dupixent (dupilumab) as an additional maintenance treatment for adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) characterized by elevated eosinophils and uncontrolled symptoms. This approval applies to patients already using inhaled corticosteroids (ICS), long-acting beta-2 agonists (LABA), and long-acting muscarinic antagonists (LAMA) in combination therapy, or those using LABA and LAMA combination therapy when ICS is not suitable. The press release noted that Dupixent is the first new therapy approved in the EU for the treatment of COPD in over a decade and marks the first global regulatory approval for Dupixent for COPD. This therapy is currently under review by global regulatory agencies, including those in the US, China, and Japan.
3 Other Dynamics
3.1 Beijing Drug Administration, Beijing Commerce Bureau, and Beijing Customs Issue “Beijing’s Plan to Promote Drug Exports”
On July 3, 2024, the Beijing Drug Administration, Beijing Commerce Bureau, and Beijing Customs issued “Beijing’s Plan to Promote Drug Exports.” According to the spirit of documents such as the “State Council’s Reply on Supporting Beijing to Deepen the National Service Industry Opening-up Comprehensive Demonstration Zone Construction Work Plan,” this plan aims to deepen the implementation of the “Several Measures to Support the High-Quality Development of Innovative Pharmaceuticals in Beijing (2024),” focusing on promoting the high-quality development of the pharmaceutical industry in the city, accelerating the formation of competitive advantages in entering international markets, and effectively promoting drug export work. The task goal is to leverage China’s participation in the Pharmaceutical Inspection Cooperation Scheme (PIC/S) to improve the regulatory system, enhance regulatory capabilities, and promote enterprises’ production quality management to align with international standards; optimize import and export processes to accelerate product export; establish external communication platforms to activate international trade potential, and promote qualified enterprises to participate in the Belt and Road Initiative and other international cooperation, assisting drugs to “go global.” In 2024, the goal is to promote the export of five drug varieties.
3.2 In 2024, Over 20 New Drugs in China Obtain US FDA Fast Track Designation, Involving Hengrui Medicine, Fuliang Technology, etc.
In 2024, over 20 new drugs in China have obtained US FDA fast track designation, involving companies such as Hengrui Medicine and Fuliang Technology. These new drugs include treatments for various cancers such as prostate cancer, breast cancer, and urothelial carcinoma. Fast track designation will accelerate the development and approval of these drugs, allowing patients to benefit sooner. Among them, Fuliang Technology’s 225Ac-FL-020 employs targeted alpha radiation therapy, accurately targeting cancer cells and potentially providing new treatment options for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.
Note: The content of this article is compiled from various sources including Xinzhi News, Artery Network, Science and Technology Daily, and Global Technology Map.
