Company
Argo Biopharmaceutical (舶望制药)
Shanghai siRNA company founded in 2021 that has received US$345M in upfront payments from Novartis in two deals.
1. Core Product / Service
Argo (Argo Biopharma) develops small interfering RNA (siRNA) drugs on its in-house RADS platform. It has more than 20 programs across cardiovascular, rare, hepatitis B, autoimmune and CNS diseases; six are in clinical development [3].
- BW-00112 (ANGPTL3, dyslipidemia): Phase 2 in the US and China. It received its first IND, in Australia, in December 2022 [2].
- BW-41012: cleared by China's CDE for a trial in stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation [3].
2. Target Users & Pain Points
Cardiovascular siRNA allows dosing a few times a year. Large pharma wants these assets to compete in the field Alnylam and Arrowhead opened. Argo sells to pharma: it has no marketed product, and its revenue is upfront and milestone payments [3].
3. Competitive Landscape
| Player | Positioning | Vs. Argo |
|---|---|---|
| Arrowhead / Alnylam | US RNAi leaders | Argo's founders came from Arrowhead; Argo competes on cost and speed |
| SanegeneBio (圣因生物) | Boston/Shanghai RNAi company with a Lilly partnership | Similar vintage; smaller disclosed upfront |
| vivatides | siRNA/ASO startup founded in 2025, extrahepatic delivery | Later-stage peer in liver-targeted siRNA |
| yoltech-therapeutics | In vivo gene editing for some of the same liver targets | One-time editing versus repeat siRNA dosing |
4. Unique Observations
- Upfronts exceed equity about 3×: Novartis paid US$185M (2024) plus US$160M (2025). Disclosed equity is about US$108M [2][4].
- Repeat buyer: Novartis came back for a second, broader deal and said it intends to join Argo's next equity round. This intent is non-binding [2][4].
- Wet-lab model (unknown): the company has disclosed no lab footprint, headcount, oligonucleotide synthesis or CDMO partner. Its registered address is in Jiading, Shanghai [5]. With six clinical programs, an in-house chemistry and in vivo pharmacology team is plausible, but this is not confirmed.
5. Financials / Funding
| Round | Date | Amount | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Angel | 2021-05 | ≈US$5M | — [2] |
| Series A | 2021-11 | US$63M (>RMB 400M) | — [2][3] |
| Series A+ | 2023 (Sep–Nov) | US$40M (RMB 300M) | Zhengxin Valley, SDIC Merchants, CPE Yuanfeng among investors [2][3] |
- Novartis deal 1 (2024-01): US$185M upfront for two cardiovascular RNAi programs, BW-02 and BW-05. Total value was more than US$4B [4].
- Novartis deal 2 (2025-09-03): US$160M upfront. It covers options on two discovery-stage molecules, a right of first negotiation on BW-00112, and a profit-and-loss-sharing licence on a third molecule. Total value is up to US$5.2B [2][4].
- IPO: media report a Hong Kong IPO under consideration. As of 2026-10-14 the company is not on the HKEX active-applicant list [1].
6. People & Relationships
- Co-founder, Chairman & CEO: 舒东旭 (Shu Dongxu), formerly at Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals [2][4].
- Partner: Novartis.
- Founded: 2021-04-08 per business registry [5].
- Peers: yoltech-therapeutics, dualitybio, medilink-therapeutics.
Last compiled: 2026-10-14