BeyondSpring Announces $35.4 Million Sale of a Portion of Equity Interest in SEED Therapeutics to Advance Lead Asset Plinabulin to Anti-Cancer Registrational Studies

Core Viewpoint - BeyondSpring Inc. has entered into definitive agreements to sell a portion of its Series A-1 Preferred Shares of SEED Therapeutics Inc. for gross proceeds of approximately $35.4 million, while retaining about 14.4% of SEED's outstanding shares, which will help fund its late-stage clinical trials of Plinabulin [1][3]. Group 1: Company Overview - BeyondSpring is a global clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative cancer therapies, particularly its lead asset, Plinabulin, which is advancing into late-stage clinical development [12]. - SEED Therapeutics, co-founded by BeyondSpring and Eli Lilly in 2020, specializes in Targeted Protein Degradation (TPD) technology and has established itself as a leader in this innovative drug discovery approach [2][15]. Group 2: Financial and Strategic Moves - The recent Series A-3 financing led by Eisai valued SEED at a pre-money valuation of$ 100 million, highlighting its market potential and innovation [3]. - The proceeds from the sale of SEED shares will be utilized to advance BeyondSpring's late-stage clinical trials of Plinabulin, ensuring critical resources without diluting shareholder equity [3]. Group 3: Product Development and Clinical Trials - Plinabulin is a first-in-class anti-cancer agent that has been administered to over 700 cancer patients, demonstrating good tolerability and durable anti-cancer benefits across multiple clinical studies [4][8]. - The DUBLIN-3 Study showed that Plinabulin combined with docetaxel achieved significant overall survival benefits in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) [6][9]. - Ongoing studies (303 and 302) are targeting severe unmet medical needs, with Plinabulin's mechanism of action expected to address these challenges [5][10][11].