(Health Times reporter Wang Zhenya)
Read the executive summary:
In the eyes of these small and medium-sized pharmaceutical enterprises, the Beijing Stock Exchange is a financing platform tailored for "specialized and specialized" small and medium-sized enterprises, which solves the problem of difficult and expensive financing for small and medium-sized enterprises, which is also the most attractive place for small and medium-sized enterprises. Xu Songshan, chairman of Northland, told the Health Times reporter that the Beijing Stock Exchange diversified its financing varieties, providing a wealth of equity financing tools such as common stocks, preferred shares, convertible bonds, etc., and the issuance method was also very flexible, and the financing cycle and cost were shortened. "Today's life is much better than before, after the listing of the Beijing Stock Exchange, there is no longer to worry about funds, before looking for investors, now investors are actively looking for us, you can concentrate on research and development, expand production capacity."
Whether it is from Beijing Zhongguancun biomedical enterprises, or from Guangdong Zhongkai High-tech Zone pharmaceutical equipment company, or from Sichuan China's time-honored brand, a month ago on November 15, they coincided with the Beijing Stock Exchange bell-ringing listing, with the help of the power of capital to seek long-term development of enterprises, to meet the contained innovation needs of small and medium-sized pharmaceutical enterprises.
On December 13, 28 days after the opening of the Beijing Stock Exchange, it finally ushered in the first "extra large" up-and-down stock - Northland. On this day, the stock rose 30%.
"Now there is no need to worry about funds" "R & D and plant construction have financial support" "Listed enterprises on the Beijing Stock Exchange, many talents are willing to come"... From the listing of the New Third Board, to the basic layer, the innovation layer, the selection layer, and finally the listing on the Beijing Stock Exchange, as a small and medium-sized enterprise, ten pharmaceutical enterprises have been bumpy all the way, survived the cold winter, and now ushered in the "spring" of enterprise development.
The first up-and-down stock after the opening of the market,
Biomedicine is favored by capital
Northland Chairman Xu Songshan showed off the company's stock that was rising. Photo by Wang Zhenya
Northland (430047. BJ), of the 10 pharmaceutical companies listed on the Beijing Stock Exchange, it is the only stock with a ticker symbol that begins with 4. Founded in 2004, Northland is an innovative biopharmaceutical enterprise focusing on the research and development and production of gene therapy drugs, recombinant protein drugs and ophthalmic drugs, so far 17 years, its bio-innovative drugs are still in the product research and development stage, and the annual research and development expenditure is large, the company has not yet made a profit and there is a cumulative unmade loss.
Solving the capital chain of enterprise survival and research and development has been the top priority of Xu Songshan for so many years.
"The stock code represents the order in which enterprises enter the capital market, and we are the first batch of listed neeqaboard companies in Beijing. At that time, the New Third Board was still in the pilot stage. Xu Songshan, chairman of Northland, proudly introduced the company's listing process to the Health Times reporter.
From the listing of the New Third Board, to the basic layer, the innovation layer, and the selection layer, this is a process of sand panning and sand removal, and finally only 71 selected layer enterprises were listed on the Beijing Stock Exchange as the first batch of enterprises. Looking at the entire North Stock Exchange, Northland was also one of the earliest stocks. Whether it is the first up-and-down stock or the top of the daily stock rankings, Northland is highly sought after and favored by capital.
Xu Songshan told the Health Times reporter, "Before there was no Beijing Stock Exchange, although it was also on the New Third Board, there was still a difference in the financing channels between the two. In the past, we relied on ourselves to find investors and roadshows, which was very difficult, and whether we could raise funds really depended on luck."
"For start-up enterprises, financing difficulties are the first obstacle to development, indirect financing requires asset collateral, while for innovative small and medium-sized enterprises, many intangible assets are difficult to evaluate, and most financial institutions are unable to grant credit and loans." Zeng Peiyu, the secretary of the board of directors of another of the first to be listed on the Beijing Stock Exchange, also told the Health Times reporter.
In the eyes of these small and medium-sized pharmaceutical enterprises, the Beijing Stock Exchange is a financing platform tailored for "specialized and specialized" small and medium-sized enterprises, which solves the problem of financing difficulties and expensive financing for small and medium-sized enterprises, which is also the most attractive place for small and medium-sized enterprises. Xu Songshan said, "The Beijing Stock Exchange has diversified its financing varieties, providing a wealth of equity financing tools such as stock issuance, mergers and acquisitions, and refinancing, and the issuance method is also very flexible, and the financing cycle and cost have been shortened." ”
At the North Stock Exchange, Northland issued the first announcement of the proposed refinancing project, which is expected to raise no more than 300 million yuan; as the first enterprise to pass the meeting after the official announcement of the North Stock Exchange, Jinhao Medical raised 210 million yuan in this offering.
"Today's life is much better than before, after the listing of the Beijing Stock Exchange, there is no longer to worry about funds, before looking for investors, now investors are actively looking for us, you can concentrate on research and development, expand production capacity." Xu Songshan said excitedly.
From generic drugs to innovative drugs,
Small and medium-sized enterprises join the new drug research and development team
Ziqi Palace production workshop. Courtesy of respondents
According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, there are a total of 4762 "specialized and specialized" enterprises in the country, and from the perspective of industry distribution, the number of enterprises in the field of medicine and biology ranks among the top three in all industries, reaching 37. More and more small and medium-sized enterprises are joining the R&D team of innovative drugs. The research and development of biological innovative drugs has the characteristics of "high technology, high investment, high risk and long cycle", and a new drug is often "ten years of grinding a sword" from preclinical research to marketing approval.
"The desire of small and medium-sized enterprises to innovate is very strong, but various elements and resources are lacking." Duan Haoling, secretary of the board of directors of Jinhao Medical, said that various financial instruments of the Beijing Stock Exchange will provide impetus for the independent innovation of small and medium-sized enterprises.
There is no shortage of innovation motivation for small and medium-sized enterprises, but the research and development of innovative drugs has never been smooth. Xu Songshan, chairman of Northland, introduced that the development of biological innovative drugs should complete the pre-engineering bacteria construction, production process establishment and quality research, pre-clinical pharmacology and toxicology research, and then enter the clinical stage, but even in the second or third phase of the clinical, there is still a possibility of research and development failure, and the risk is extremely high.
Nowadays, more and more enterprises have begun to lay out innovative drugs. Ziqigong Pharmaceutical, located in Neijiang, Sichuan, through innovation and research and development of new drugs, has staged a story from bankruptcy to listing, and The self-innovation of Chinese time-honored enterprises has turned against the wind.
As a pharmaceutical enterprise listed on the Beijing Stock Exchange, Ziqigong is the only chinese time-honored enterprise. The "ZiQigong" brand began in 1780 during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty and has a history of 241 years, but it was once on the verge of bankruptcy. In 2003, the 42-year-old Tang Milling took over the "destitute" pharmaceutical factory, and in his words, many of the company's exclusive proprietary Chinese medicines were gone, leaving only a few low-value general medicines and a janitor.
"To survive, we must continue to innovate and develop, there is no core variety, we can only start from scratch, do research and development, do new drugs." Zeng Peiyu told the Health Times reporter that Zixi Palace has developed a number of new drugs such as citicoline sodium tablets and rizatriptan benzoate capsules, and has obtained 26 invention patents.
In order to save the enterprise, Tang Milling, chairman of Ziqi Palace, takes the research and development and marketing of cost-effective first-line specialty drugs as its core competitiveness. With its core product, citicoline tablets, Ziqigong finally turned a profit in 2010. From 2018 to 2020, the sales revenue of Zixi uterine citicoline tablets was 248 million yuan, 303 million yuan and 320 million yuan respectively, accounting for 89.79%, 86.71% and 87.80% of the company's main business income, respectively.
"In 2010, after the survival period of enterprises into the growth period, continue to increase investment in research and development, we will seek the help of the capital market, in 2015, we listed on the New Third Board." Zeng Peiyu told the Health Times reporter that as a "Chinese time-honored brand" enterprise, it needs inheritance and innovation. Since the listing of the New Third Board in 2015, Ziqi Palace has advanced from the basic layer, the innovation layer, the selection layer, and then to today's Beijing Stock Exchange. The funds raised are 223 million yuan, and nearly 100 million yuan of funds will be used for new drug research and development. The establishment of the Beijing Stock Exchange has opened up new channels for financing for many small and medium-sized innovative enterprises such as Ziqi Palace.
By continuously deepening reform and optimizing services, listed biomedical enterprises can play a demonstration role. Xu Songshan and other executives of listed companies told reporters that there will be more small and medium-sized enterprises in the pharmaceutical field listed on the Beijing Stock Exchange in the future, which is beyond doubt.
The equity incentive policy of the Beijing Stock Exchange,
Let talent be introduced and retained
At the entrance of Zhongguancun Biomedical Park, there is a banner listing on Northland. Photo by Wang Zhenya
In addition to financing, many listed companies praised the Beijing Stock Exchange for its platform authority and the attraction of talent by the equity incentive system.
"The Beijing Stock Exchange gathered media and social attention, which gained no popularity for small and medium-sized enterprises before." Duan Haoling, secretary of the board of directors of Jinhao Medical, told reporters that if there is no listing on the Beijing Stock Exchange, it will be difficult to negotiate conditions with others in recruitment. Hearing aids are a relatively segmented market, excellent talents are very scarce, small and medium-sized enterprises are not like large companies, there is no equity incentive, talents want to introduce, but can not be introduced.
In the process of converting hearing aids from analog to digital machines, there are two core technology thresholds: chips and algorithms. In order to create chip autonomy and cultivate core competitiveness, Jinhao Medical set up a subsidiary, Hunan Xinhai Listening Semiconductor Co., Ltd., to carry out the development, design and algorithm research of DSP digital hearing aid chips. Of the funds raised in this offering, 50.328 million yuan will be used for the intelligent hearing aid design and research center project, which will greatly strengthen the company's research and development strength.
In terms of talents, Jinhao Medical's subsidiary, Xin Hailing, has introduced a number of doctors and masters from domestic first-tier universities, and its team has a good achievement in integrated circuit design and algorithm research.
The scope of incentive objects of the Beijing Stock Exchange has been relaxed, and the directors, senior management personnel, core technical personnel or core business personnel of the company, other employees and foreign employees who have a direct impact on the company's operating performance and future development that the company believes should be incentivized can become the incentive objects of the Beijing Stock Exchange.
"Our company's most recent equity incentive plan covers 40% of its employees." Xu Songshan told reporters that the equity incentive and differentiated voting rights system of the Beijing Stock Exchange promote the formation of a win-win ecology for management, technical talents and investors, and stimulate the innovation vitality of small and medium-sized enterprises.
This year marks Northland's 17th year at zhongguancun biomedical park, and it is the only one listed on the Beijing Stock Exchange among the existing park companies. From a simple factory building in Hebei Dachang to the R&D center of the biomedical park, our pharmaceutical production base has now been laid out and built in Tongzhou, and we are actively preparing for the listing of drugs. ”
Like Li Yanwei, Northland employees are full of confidence in the development of the company. Only reformers advance, only innovators are strong, and only reformers and innovators win. The Beijing Stock Exchange is the product of the innovation of the capital market system, and China's biomedical industry urgently needs to achieve innovation-driven upgrading and transformation, which requires thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises to work hard to practice.