5Y News | Congratulations to METiS Pharmaceuticals on its Hong Kong Stock Exchange listing!
METiS Pharmaceuticals, the world's first publicly listed AI-driven drug delivery company, goes public, ushering in a new era for biopharmaceuticals.
METiS Pharmaceuticals (7666.HK), a tech-bio company focused on AI-powered nano-delivery innovation, debuted on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange today, becoming the world's first listed company in AI drug delivery and the first HK-listed AI large-molecule biopharma company. With the ambition of becoming the "SpaceX of pharma," METiS achieved this IPO milestone in just six years — the shortest time for any unicorn in China's AI drug discovery industry.
The IPO was jointly sponsored by Jefferies Financial Group, Deutsche Securities Asia, and CITIC Securities (Hong Kong), with a global offering of 201,229,000 H shares, raising over HK$2.1 billion — the largest healthcare IPO on the Hong Kong exchange so far in 2026.
Dr. Chris Lai, co-founder, Chairman and CEO of METiS Pharmaceuticals, said: "The future of biomedicine won't just be about 'taking medicine when you're sick.' METiS's aspiration is to use AI to build nano-rockets that can navigate precisely through the inner space of the human body's 30 trillion cells, writing nucleic acid and protein code into cells to reprogram diseased and aging cells back to health. This was our founding mission, and it's the cause we will dedicate our lives to. The IPO is a new starting point for us to accelerate forward, and we will not let down the support and trust we've received from all quarters."
Xutian Jing, Partner at 5Y Capital, said: "From our first investment in 2020 to today, 5Y Capital has backed METiS across four consecutive rounds. Our long-term conviction in this company stems from a fundamental insight: for many drug modalities, the efficiency and precision of delivery often marks the dividing line between a viable drug and a failed one; and AI is reshaping how we explore nanomaterials, pushing the upper limits of drug delivery capability to unprecedented heights. We expect METiS to go beyond becoming a leading AI drug delivery company with a rich proprietary pipeline — it has the potential to grow into something like an 'operating system' for its pharmaceutical niche. Congratulations on the IPO, and we look forward to Chris and the team taking the company even further."
Proprietary NanoForge: The World's First AI Nano-Delivery Platform
METiS's core competitive advantage lies in its self-developed NanoForge, the world's first AI nano-delivery platform. The company has built the world's largest library of millions of ionizable lipids, developed the world's only de novo lipid generation algorithm and lipid language model, established the world's first end-to-end lipid and lipid nanoparticle (LNP) screening platform, and created the world's first AI + multiscale simulation small-molecule formulation platform.
NanoForge encompasses AI foundation models, METiS intelligent agents, quantum chemistry and molecular dynamics simulations, and AI-driven high-throughput screening — forming the company's proprietary AI-powered nano-technology innovation system. Built on NanoForge, the company has developed three technical solutions: AiTEM, AiLNP, and AiRNA, which can dramatically shorten drug development timelines while enhancing safety and efficacy.
World's First In Vivo Targeted Delivery System
Based on the NanoForge platform, METiS has become the first in the industry to achieve precise targeted delivery to eight key organs and tissues — the liver, lung, heart, muscle, tumor tissue, immune system, central nervous system, and gastrointestinal tract — with pipeline coverage spanning oncology, immunology, CNS, and metabolic diseases.
The company has over 10 pipeline products, including several discovery-stage candidates, four preclinical candidates, three clinical-stage products, one pre-NDA product, and two animal health products. As of the latest practicable date, METiS has filed 224 patent applications and been granted 52 patents.
METiS holds China's first AI-enabled formulation new drug to complete Phase III clinical trials, MTS-004. MTS-004 is the first and only PBA (pseudobulbar affect) drug to complete clinical trials in China, with the potential to fill the domestic treatment gap for this condition. The MTS-004 program went from project initiation to completion of Phase III trials in 38 months. Through AiTEM's predictive analytics and advanced modeling, the company successfully shortened preclinical formulation development from 1–2 years to less than three months.
The "rocket + satellite" paradigm represents METiS's next-generation approach to in vivo immunotherapy and a core driver of its differentiated pipeline. MTS-105 is a flagship pipeline product designed to efficiently activate anti-tumor immunity within specific human organs, with the potential to become the world's first in vivo mRNA-encoded TCE solid tumor therapy for liver cancer and other advanced solid tumors with liver metastasis. Leveraging its AiLNP and AiRNA platforms, METiS uses liver-targeted LNP delivery to achieve efficient TCE expression in hepatocytes and liver cancer cells, activating potent intra-tumoral immunity for robust tumor cell killing. MTS-105 is currently in IIT stage and has received FDA Orphan Drug Designation.
Dual-Wheel Drive: Platform Partnerships and Product Collaborations
On the commercialization front, METiS employs a "platform collaboration + product collaboration" dual-wheel business model, creating a virtuous cycle of "technology iteration — commercial application — real-world data feedback." To date, METiS has over 30 pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners globally, including top-tier multinational pharma companies, innovative biotech firms, and medical research institutions.
METiS recorded revenue of RMB 105 million in 2025, primarily from the upfront payment for the MTS-004 product collaboration. The total milestones for MTS-004 in the PBA indication reach RMB 1.845 billion, with potential additional milestone payments of up to RMB 100 million for indication expansion. Meanwhile, signed platform collaborations include single-target contracts worth up to $109 million, demonstrating early market validation of the dual-wheel model.
Cross-Disciplinary Founding Team, Sustained R&D and Talent Investment
METiS's R&D team is led by its three co-founders and, supported by research centers in Beijing and Hangzhou, brings together multidisciplinary expertise spanning nanomaterials, chemistry, biology, physics, computational science, and medicine — enabling AI nano-delivery innovation and cross-disciplinary breakthroughs. The team comprises over 100 scientists and technical personnel, including approximately 40 PhD holders. The majority of operating expenses are R&D-related, covering employee benefits for scientists and engineers, equity incentive costs, laboratory materials and equipment, and professional service fees (including CRO payments). From 2023 to 2025, R&D expenditure remained consistently high at approximately RMB 270 million annually.
R&D will remain central to METiS's strategic investment priorities. Approximately 50% of net IPO proceeds will fund core technology research, development, and advancement of AI infrastructure and the AI-driven nanomaterials platform; approximately 20% will support ongoing and planned clinical trials for AI-developed pipeline products, advancing candidate drugs across multiple therapeutic areas and modalities; and approximately 10% will develop animal health and anti-aging solutions, extending AI-enabled offerings into these high-growth sectors.
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