SHANGHAI and GAITHERSBURG, Md., July 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- I-Mab (the "Company") (Nasdaq: IMAB), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company committed to the discovery, development and commercialization of novel biologics, today announced the signing of two new collaborations with emerging biotech companies in China to strengthen its next-generation innovation pipeline.

The collaborations with Immorna, an mRNA biotech company, and neoX Biotech, an AI-enabled R&D biotech company, allow I-Mab the access to transformative technologies in its quest to discover and develop novel oncology therapeutics. I-Mab will be developing novel anti-cancer antibody therapeutics through Immorna's pioneering self-replicating mRNA platform. Moreover, through a strategic collaboration agreement, I-Mab will work with neoX Biotech for up to 10 novel biologics programs using neoX's proprietary artificial intelligence algorithm. The announcement today is the new additions to the existing collaboration agreements with Complix for cell-penetrating antibody platform and Affinity for masking antibody platform in March 2021, positioning the Company to continually expand its globally competitive pipeline of next generation antibody assets enabled by transformative technologies.

"Since the launch of our discovery initiative earlier this year, we have identified transformative technologies that can enable us to rapidly expand the emerging portfolio of next generation novel antibody assets to sustain our innovative immuno-oncology pipeline," said Dr. Taylor Guo, Chief Scientific Officer of I-Mab. "The immense success of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines exemplifies that mRNA-based drugs have finally established themselves as transformative medicines. And channeling the power of AI into drug discovery holds great promise from unlocking novel targets and modalities to accelerating all aspects of R&D. By embracing these technologies, we have again demonstrated our commitment in executing against our long-term innovation strategy."

"We are delighted to establish this collaboration with I-Mab. By unlocking the potential of in vivo synthesized therapeutic antibody modality built on messenger RNA technology, we strive to realize our common mission of bringing the world's first self-replicating mRNA therapeutics to cancer patients," said Dr. Zihao Wang, CEO of Immorna.

"We look forward to working with I-Mab to generate novel oncology assets, leveraging our proprietary cutting-edge AI technology and unique capabilities to overcome the challenges of drug discovery and create new drugs better and faster," said Dr. Hang Chen, CEO of neoX Biotech.

Both partner companies will receive undisclosed upfront and/or milestone payments stipulated in the collaboration agreements.  

About I-Mab

I-Mab (Nasdaq: IMAB) is an innovation-driven global biotech company focusing on discovery, development and soon commercialization of novel and highly differentiated biologics in immuno-oncology therapeutic area. The Company's mission is to bring transformational medicines to patients around the world through drug innovation. I-Mab's globally competitive pipeline of more than 15 clinical and pre-clinical stage drug candidates is driven by its internal R&D capability and global licensing partnerships, based on the Company's unique Fast-to-Proof-of-Concept and Fast-to-Market pipeline development strategies. The Company is now rapidly progressing from a clinical stage biotech company to a fully integrated global biopharmaceutical company with cutting-edge global R&D capabilities, a world-class GMP manufacturing facility and commercialization capability. I-Mab has established its global footprint in Shanghai (headquarters), Beijing, Hangzhou and Hong Kong in China, and Maryland and San Diego in the United States. For more information, please visit http://ir.i-mabbiopharma.com and follow I-Mab on LinkedIn, Twitter and WeChat.

About Immorna

Founded in 2019, Immorna is a fast-growing biotech company that focuses on developing self-replicating and conventional mRNA-based therapeutics and vaccines. Since its founding, Immorna has built a robust CMC platform for mRNA synthesis, purification, and analytical testing and is well suited for commercial development. Thanks to its state-of-the-art screening tools, Immorna has developed an arsenal of mRNA delivery vehicles including polymers and lipid nanoparticles featuring multiple proprietary cationic lipids suitable for intramuscular, intravenous or tissue-targeting delivery. Immorna has a diverse pipeline spanning cancer immunotherapy, infectious diseases, rare genetic diseases, and cosmetology. Immorna is fast advancing into clinical stage for its oncology and infectious disease projects. Immorna's footprint includes Hangzhou, Shanghai in China and Wilmington, DE in the US.

About neoX Biotech

neoX Biotech is a next-generation biotech company specializing in computational design for novel drug research and development. By integrating artificial intelligence (AI), biophysics with high-throughput experiments, neoX focuses on the research and development of macromolecular drugs and multi-specific drugs. Through an in-depth characterization of protein-protein interaction (PPI), neoX has developed a highly transferable and sophisticated platform for early drug discovery. NeoX has achieved demonstrable preclinical progress in a set of innovative drug pipelines derived from this platform. Founded in 2018 by two doctors graduated from MIT and Caltech, neoX has raised nearly $100 million US dollars of investment from the prestigious venture capitals, including Sequoia Capital China, 5Y Capital, Vision Plus Capital, Vertex Ventures, LYFE Capital, ZhenFund, etc.

I-Mab Forward Looking Statements

This press release includes certain disclosures which contain "forward-looking statements." You can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as "anticipate" and "expected." Forward-looking statements are based on I-Mab's current expectations and assumptions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements, which are neither statements of historical fact nor guarantees or assurances of future performance. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are set forth in filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. I-Mab undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law.