From Wyeth/Pfizer to Jiangsu Hengrui to IMab to starting her own biotech, Joan Huaqiong Shen has seen many ups and downs of drug development in China. She sat down with Scrip on the sidelines of the recent DIA China meeting to discuss her latest startup devoted to novel small molecules to treat schizophrenia and epilepsy and a gene therapy for ALS.

In the private market, eight Chinese biotechs raised a combined $116m in deals backed by venture capital and private equity firms over the past few weeks.

A slew of high-level executives has established biotech startups in China with a single focus on CNS conditions. Emerging collaboration and funding flow highlights a heating up market, but insiders tell Scrip that choppy waters and an uncertain future may be looming.

The neuroscience-focused firm plans a 2022 supplemental NDA for Ingrezza following success in the pivotal KINECT-HD study. The biotech needed an R&D success after recent stumbles.