Code Moment | Congratulations to METiS Pharmaceuticals on Its HKEX Listing, the World's First AI Drug Delivery Stock

On May 13, MaHui member METiS Pharmaceuticals (7666.HK), a tech-bio company focused on AI-powered nano-delivery innovation, successfully listed on the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, becoming the world's first AI drug-delivery stock and Hong Kong's first AI large-molecule biopharma listing. The company offered 201 million shares at HK$10.50 per share, raising approximately HK$2.1 billion in total; at the time of writing, its market cap has exceeded HK$30 billion.

With the ambition of becoming the "SpaceX of pharma," METiS Pharmaceuticals reached unicorn status and completed its IPO in just six years — the shortest time to listing in China's AI drug discovery industry. Source Code Capital participated in METiS's angel round in 2020 and continued to increase its stake in subsequent rounds. Since its initial investment, Source Code Capital has provided long-term support across multiple dimensions including ecosystem connections, talent recruitment, organizational consulting, brand marketing, and knowledge sharing.

"Starting from AI-enabled formulation and drug delivery, then moving into pharmaceutical infrastructure, and expanding toward indications and drug pipelines — METiS is taking a platform approach that's deeply disruptive. Over the past seven years, we've witnessed the company's growth and remain highly confident in its long-term prospects. This was also Source Code Capital's first investment in AI pharma; since then, we've built out a portfolio of related companies and will continue to deepen our focus on this sector. We believe that starting from technology and using AI as the engine will ultimately break the inefficiency trap of traditional drug R&D models," said Yungang Huang, Managing Partner of Source Code Rhythm.

From left: Caida Lai, Co-founder, Chairman and CEO of METiS Pharmaceuticals; Yungang Huang, Managing Partner of Source Code Rhythm, at the listing ceremony

Source Code Capital has long been deeply engaged in the biopharma sector, consistently optimistic about its potential for breakthrough innovation and long-term value to humanity. The firm focuses on the intersection of technology and biomedicine, and has built a matrix covering multiple sub-sectors: in addition to METiS Pharmaceuticals, its portfolio includes Ladder Therapeutics, DeepWise, Enhe Technology, Cotevia Bio, UCD Bio, Starna Therapeutics, WeiMai, Jianhai Technology, and Si-Bionics. From AI pharma, synthetic biology, and molecular simulation to healthcare service platforms and medical smart hardware, each has its own focus while advancing synergistically. METiS's successful Hong Kong listing marks the beginning of Source Code's deep bets in this sector bearing fruit.

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Proprietary Global-First AI Nano-Delivery Platform

Founded in 2020, METiS Pharmaceuticals derives its core competitiveness from its self-developed NanoForge, the world's first AI nano-delivery platform. The company has built the world's largest million-scale ionizable lipid library, 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-driven 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.

Based on the NanoForge platform, METiS is the first in the industry to achieve precise targeted delivery to eight key organs and tissues: liver, lung, heart, muscle, tumor tissue, immune system, central nervous system, and gastrointestinal tract. Its pipeline covers oncology, immunology, central nervous system, 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, the company 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 PBA. The MTS-004 program went from project initiation to Phase III completion in 38 months. Through AiTEM's predictive analytics and advanced modeling, the company successfully reduced preclinical formulation development time from 1–2 years to less than three months.

The "rocket + satellite" paradigm of next-generation in vivo immunotherapy is central to METiS's differentiated pipeline strategy. MTS-105 is a flagship pipeline product that efficiently activates anti-tumor immunity in 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 metastases. Leveraging its AiLNP and AiRNA platforms, METiS achieves efficient TCE expression in hepatocytes and liver cancer cells through liver-targeted LNP delivery, activating potent intra-tumoral immunity for strong tumor cell killing. MTS-105 is currently in the IIT stage and has received FDA Orphan Drug Designation.

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Dual-Wheel Drive of Platform and Product Partnerships Building Commercial Moats

On the commercialization front, METiS employs a "platform partnership + product partnership" dual-wheel drive 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 global pharma companies, innovative biotech firms, and medical research institutions.

METiS reported revenue of RMB 105 million in 2025, primarily from the upfront payment for the MTS-004 product partnership. The total milestone payments 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 partnerships have reached up to $109 million per target, demonstrating initial market validation of the dual-wheel model.

METiS's R&D team is led by its three co-founders and operates from R&D centers in Beijing and Hangzhou, bringing together multidisciplinary expertise in nanomaterials, chemistry, biology, physics, computational science, and medicine to support innovation in AI nano-delivery and cross-disciplinary breakthrough research. The team comprises over 100 scientists and technical personnel, including approximately 40 PhD holders. The majority of operating expenses are R&D-related, primarily covering employee benefits for scientists and engineers, equity incentive expenses, laboratory materials and equipment, and professional service fees (including payments to CROs). From 2023 to 2025, the company maintained high R&D investment at approximately RMB 270 million annually.

Going forward, METiS will continue prioritizing R&D in its strategic investments. Approximately 50.0% of net IPO proceeds will fund core technology research, development, and advancement of AI infrastructure and the AI-driven nanomaterials platform; approximately 20.0% will support ongoing and planned clinical trials in the AI-developed product pipeline, advancing drug candidates across multiple therapeutic areas and modalities; and approximately 10.0% will develop animal health and anti-aging solutions, extending AI-enabled offerings into these high-growth sectors.

Caida Lai, Co-founder, Chairman and CEO of METiS Pharmaceuticals, stated: "The future of biomedicine is no longer just 'take medicine when sick.' METiS's ambition is to use AI to build nano-rockets that 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 into healthy ones. This was our founding mission, and it's the cause we will dedicate our lives to. The IPO is a new starting point to accelerate forward, and we will not let down the support and trust from all sectors."