Shanghai, China, June 12^th, 2019

On 11th June 2019, Mr. Ahmed Aboutaleb, the mayor of Rotterdam in the Netherlands visited Harbour BioMed’s Shanghai Innovation Center with his delegation. This visit was part of a week-long trip to Shanghai on the occasion of the 40^th anniversary celebration for Rotterdam-Shanghai sister relationship.

The Mayor’s delegation consisted of members of the City of Rotterdam, Dutch Consulate in Shanghai, The Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency, Rotterdam Partners, InnovationQuarter, and Erasmus MC. Local dignitaries from Shanghai government including delegates of Foreign Affairs Office of Shanghai, Shanghai Municipal Drug Administration, Zhangjiang Science City and Talent Service Center of Science and Technology Innovation Board also joined the visit and participated in a very active discussions around innovation in global biopharma through collaboration.

Over the last 40 years, Shanghai and Rotterdam has collaborated on several different projects in the field of Port, Maritime, Logistics, amongst others. This time the mayors are also focusing on Life-Sciences and Health as one of the key priorities for discussion. In line with this, the visit to HBM was focused on understanding what a mid-size startup biotech company looks like and what kind of ecosystem it takes to attract such companies to build a life-sciences hub in Rotterdam.

HBM has a long history with Rotterdam as it acquired the Dutch company Harbour Antibodies BV (established in 2006) at the end of 2016. By doing so, they gained the global patents for the use and out licensing of the transgenic mouse platform capable of generating fully human monoclonal antibodies, now known as the Harbour Mice^TM. Using these platforms, HBM is developing the next-generation of therapies for cancer and immune-driven disorders with operations in three harbour cities across the world, Rotterdam, Boston and Shanghai. In Rotterdam, Dr. Frank Grosveld, the founding scientist of Harbour Antibodies and member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and Fellow of the Royal Society (UK), leads new developments both on the platform as well as targets identified by the global discovery teams.

“The Netherlands has contributed significantly to the life-science and healthcare industry due to its collaborations between academic institutions, industry and government institutions who promote the R&D through open dialogue and economic policies. HBM’s core technology originated in Rotterdam and is poised to deliver innovative medicines all over the world. We are privileged to have the opportunity to facilitate the evolution of the technology and its application toward meeting unmet patient needs” Jingsong Wang, MD PhD, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Harbour BioMed said.

About Harbour BioMed

 
Harbour BioMed (HKEX: 02142) is a global biopharmaceutical company committed to the discovery, development and commercialization of novel antibody therapeutics focusing on oncology and immunology. The Company is building its robust portfolio and differentiated pipeline through internal R&D capability, collaborations with co-discovery and co-development partners and select acquisitions.

 
The Company’s proprietary antibody technology platforms Harbour Mice^® generate fully human monoclonal antibodies in two heavy and two light chain (H2L2) format, as well as heavy chain only (HCAb) format. Building upon the HCAb antibodies, the HCAb-based immune cell engagers (HBICE^®) are capable of delivering tumor killing effects unachievable by traditional combination therapies. Integrating Harbour Mice^® with single B cell cloning platform, our antibody discovery engine is highly unique and efficient for development of next generation therapeutic antibodies. 

For further information, please refer to www.harbourbiomed.com