AnnJi Pharmaceutical said on June 30 that it had successfully completed a $660 million capital raising, demonstrating the market's recognition and support for the company. The actual subscription amount exceeded NT$960 million, reaching 200% of the original target of NT$480 million.
To express its gratitude to the original shareholders and investors, the Board of Directors decided to increase the original fundraising target from $480 million to $660 million to provide capital for future new drug development and operation, according to Annji.
AnnJi Pharmaceutical is one of the few companies in Taiwan that has a pipeline of innovative drugs at all stages of research and development from translation to pre-clinical to post-clinical, and has a high level of translation research and product development capabilities. In addition to winning the Boehringer Ingelheim Grass Roots Programme for the transnational research of AJ303, an innovative Nrf2 activator for the treatment of Kennedy's disease, AJ201 won the 19th National Innovation Award in the Biotechnology and Precision Medicine category, making it the only small molecule drug company in Taiwan to receive both international and national recognition in recent years.
In addition, on March 3 this year, Annji announced that it had signed an exclusive European and U.S. license agreement with Avenue Therapeutics Inc. for a small molecule drug for AJ201, a rare disease called Kennedy's disease, for a total license amount of US$250 million (over NT$7.5 billion).
Based on the company's efforts and performance in the past two years, this capital increase not only has the support of original shareholders such as Taiwan Capital, Fubon Financial Holding, Taiwan Cooperative Bank, Cathay Financial Holding, Hotung Venture Capital and Top Taiwan Capital, but also attracted the participation of government-owned venture capital resources such as Gains Investment, Chang Hwa Bank and Taiwan Business Bank. In addition, Annji has also welcomed well-known investment companies such as Great Tree Pharmacy, Black Marble Capital Management, BlackWood Capital and Solaris Ventures Capital, into its shareholder line-up.
In addition to AJ201, which has entered Phase II clinical trials in the US, Annji will also enter Phase I clinical trials with AJ302 and AJ202 next year. The commencement of these clinical trials will further validate the efficacy and safety of Annji's innovative drugs. The company will then continue to work towards its goal of having the product launched by 2024 and 2025.
