On March 22, the Shanghai Stock Exchange announced the results of the 20th review meeting of the Science and Technology Innovation Board Listing Committee in 2021. The IPO of Suzhou Jingyun Pharmaceutical Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Jingyun Pharmaceutical") was suspended for review. .
The Listing Committee inquired about issues related to the scientific and technological innovation attributes of Jingyun Drugs at the review meeting. The company is required to combine its core technology, continuous research and development capabilities, and technical advantages and disadvantages with comparable companies to explain whether the information disclosure about scientific and technological innovation attributes meets the relevant information disclosure requirements.
Over-reliance on overseas markets has made patent disputes worse
Data show that Jingyun Pharmaceuticals provides professional drug crystal research and development solutions to global pharmaceutical companies. Headquartered in Suzhou, it has established R&D centers in Beijing, New Jersey, USA, and Toronto, Canada. The three actual controllers of the company all have relevant experience studying and working in the United States.
It is precisely because of this background of the founder that Jingyun Pharmaceuticals has focused its main efforts on developing overseas markets since its establishment. In 2018 and 2019, Jingyun's revenue from innovative crystalline technology and product development business was 47.1468 million yuan and 16.9032 million yuan respectively, all of which came from overseas customers.
The prospectus shows that during the reporting period, Crystal Cloud Pharmaceuticals was also involved in a patent dispute. This dispute also attracted great attention from the Listing Committee.
According to the prospectus, “Novartis’ original drug Entresto Sacubitril Valsartan Sodium Tablets is a blockbuster anti-heart failure drug with global sales of US$1.726 billion in 2019. The original drug uses Novartis has applied for a patent for a patented crystal form formed by two active ingredients, which is a key barrier to generic drug development and patent challenges. This patent will expire in China and the United States in 2026 and 2027 respectively. ".
In the inquiry letter, the Listing Committee requested the issuer to comprehensively sort out the litigation-related matters during the reporting period based on the intellectual property risks disclosed in the major event reminder, and further explain whether the issuer’s business development has relatively high litigation-related risks. If there is a high risk of litigation, further explain whether the issuer’s business operations involve a high risk of litigation.
Jingyun Pharmaceutical responded that the lawsuit was filed by Novartis, the new drug approval holder and patent owner of Sacubitril Valsartan Sodium Tablets, in order to delay the approval of the first generic drug application submitted by Claris. strategic litigation. The lawsuit is currently in the pre-trial stage, and the court date is expected to be between September 8 and September 23, 2022. Based on the judgment of the attorney and based on the current information, if the court obtains all relevant information, the court is likely to make a judgment in favor of Corus, that is, Corus has a low risk of losing the case.
Due to foreign-related patent litigation, the IPOs of two companies were terminated
It is not uncommon for companies to have patent litigation on the eve of their listing. Previously, Shanghai Tuopu and Microguided Nano were terminated from review due to pending foreign-related patent litigation. It is still unknown whether Jingyun Drug will make the same mistake again.
According to Microguide Nano’s disclosure: On May 9, 2019, NCD Co., Ltd.’s “AL2O3 Atomic Layer Deposition Equipment-Kuafu Series Atomic Layer Deposition Coating System” produced and sold by the company fell into its ZL201110434373.6 A lawsuit was filed with the Intermediate People's Court of Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province on the grounds that the protection scope of the invention patent "Method and System for Thin Film Deposition". The Intermediate People's Court of Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province rejected NCD Co., Ltd.'s lawsuit. On May 29, 2020, NCD Co., Ltd. filed an appeal with the Supreme People’s Court.
The final outcome of the patent dispute is still unclear. Even if Microguide Nano restarts its IPO plan for the Science and Technology Innovation Board, it will still make people sweat.
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