SIHUAN PHARM has signed a cooperation agreement with the American company AbaloneBio to jointly develop a new generation of innovative therapies for weight loss and muscle gain, further deepening its layout in the GPCR target field

According to the news from Zhitong Finance APP, SIHUAN PHARM (00460) announced that the group has officially signed a cooperation agreement with the American biotechnology company AbaloneBio (Abalone). According to the agreement, both parties will collaborate globally to jointly promote the research and development of innovative drugs for the treatment of obesity.

The core goal of this R&D project is to achieve safe and effective energy expenditure enhancement by targeting metabolic-related G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), while maintaining or enhancing muscle mass. This aims to address the limitations of current weight loss therapies and meet the clinical needs that are not yet fully covered in the global obesity treatment field, promoting the optimization and upgrading of treatment solutions in this area.

GPCRs belong to a large and dynamic family of membrane proteins, and the precision required for regulating their activity is extremely high. Therefore, the development of agonistic antibodies targeting such receptors has long been recognized as a technical challenge in the pharmaceutical industry. Abalone focuses on overcoming the regulatory challenges of difficult-to-drug membrane proteins (especially GPCRs) with its unique functional antibody screening technology platform, possessing the capability to measure antibody functional activity data on a large scale, and can leverage artificial intelligence technology to discover and design agonistic antibodies, with a clear technical route and outstanding core capabilities.

This cooperation will strictly adhere to the principle of "complementary advantages and collaborative promotion": Abalone will provide its core technology and platform support in the field of GPCR antibody discovery; the group will invest its R&D accumulation in the field of metabolic diseases, full-chain industrialization resources, and the mature business system already established in Greater China, to jointly promote the efficient advancement of the R&D project, reduce R&D risks, and ensure the standardization and feasibility of the project from R&D to subsequent transformation.

The cooperation between the group and Abalone has a preliminary foundation—the group completed a strategic investment in Abalone earlier this year. The signing of this cooperation agreement marks the extension of cooperation from the capital level to the business execution level, further consolidating the group's innovative layout in the weight loss field, and leveraging Abalone's technological advantages to accelerate the R&D progress of the next generation of weight loss and muscle gain therapies, providing support for the group's long-term strategic development.

In addition, this cooperation is also an important measure for the group to deepen its layout in the GPCR target field. Previously, the group had participated in an investment in the UK-based DJS Antibodies, whose core business is the development of GPCR-targeted antibodies based on its proprietary technology platform. Its technological value and R&D strength have been recognized by the industry, and it was acquired by AbbVie for $255 million in cash in 2022. The relevant investment experience also provides a reference for the group's continued layout in the GPCR field