Relying on 798 yuan per shot of the “tetanus vaccine” to generate 51.22 million yuan in annual revenue, Tiano Maibo—favored by Hillhouse and CICC—prepares for an IPO

Ask AI · How does the 70-year-old scientist respond to a multi-billion dollar betting challenge?

Spent 190 million yuan on promotion, with revenue reaching 51.22 million yuan.

Author | Liu Junqun

Editor | Liu Qinwen

Outside the emergency room corridor, a patient punctured by an iron nail faces a choice: get a tetanus antitoxin shot costing 7 yuan, or a 798-yuan shot of fully human monoclonal antibody? The former requires skin testing, with an allergy rate of 5% to 30%; the latter requires no skin test and can reach protective levels within 12 hours. The price difference is over 100 times.

The latter is the core product of Zhuhai Taimai Bo Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (hereinafter “Tainomab”)—the world’s first recombinant fully human monoclonal antibody against tetanus toxin, “Xintaitu.” However, this star product sold only 51.22 million yuan in its first year on the market, less than one-third of expectations.**

Now, Tainomab is rushing toward an IPO, with its application accepted on July 31, 2025, and scheduled for review on April 3, 2026. The company’s founder, Liao Huaxin, is a Chinese-American, 72 years old, who was an immunology professor at Duke University in the U.S. for 22 years. He co-founded the company with Zheng Weihong, who has over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Behind them, they also bear a buyback betting obligation worth billions of yuan.

Can this 70-year-old scientist lead Tainomab through the IPO hurdle?

01

A tetanus shot costing 798 yuan

Promotion expenses spent 190 million yuan

Tainomab was established in 2015, as an innovative biopharmaceutical company focused on blood product substitute therapies for global markets.

Its core product is Staiduta Monoclonal Antibody Injection (brand name: Xintaitu), the world’s first approved recombinant fully human monoclonal antibody against tetanus toxin. In simple terms, it is the world’s first “skin-test-free, plasma-free” tetanus shot, approved by the National Medical Products Administration in February 2025.

But the competitor facing Staiduta is cheaper and effective.

Before its emergence, domestic tetanus prevention mainly relied on two older products: one is Malyan Tetanus Antitoxin (TAT), priced around 7 to 30 yuan per dose, but requires skin testing with an allergy rate of 5% to 30%; the other is Human Tetanus Immunoglobulin (HTIG), about 200 to 500 yuan per dose, no skin test needed, but relies on human plasma. According to data from Frost & Sullivan, these two types of products account for over 90% of the entire market.

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Source: Can-Can Stock Photo

In comparison, Staiduta Monoclonal Antibody Injection has clear advantages: no skin test, plasma-free, faster onset, longer protection. But its price of 798 yuan per dose is 27 to 114 times that of TAT, and 1.6 to 4 times that of HTIG.

The impact of the high price threshold is directly reflected in sales data. According to the company’s initial estimate, in the first year after listing (2025), Staiduta Monoclonal Antibody Injection could sell 270k doses, generating 270k yuan in revenue. But the actual result was only 51.22 million yuan in sales, about one-third of the expectation.

This commercialization performance also drew the attention of the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The company admitted that, first, it underestimated the entry cycle for non-insurance drugs into hospitals; second, the high price of 798 yuan affected market acceptance; third, promotional service providers did not invest resources as planned, preferring to wait until the product was included in the insurance catalog before exerting effort.

It is worth noting that, in December 2025, Staiduta Monoclonal Antibody Injection was included in the national medical insurance directory, with nationwide implementation starting January 1, 2026. The “Inquiry Letter” shows that before negotiations, the company expected the terminal price to drop from 798 yuan per bottle to about 320–400 yuan per bottle. In other words, just one year after its launch, the price is expected to decrease by about 50%–60%.

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Source: Can-Can Stock Photo

In the first year of 2025, the company achieved a gross profit margin of 43.51%, and predicted that by 2029, it would rise to 83.66%. However, this forecast is based on a significant increase in sales volume. How much profit margin will be squeezed after a large price reduction remains an open question.

Bai Wenxi, vice chairman of the China Enterprise Capital Alliance, believes that “for innovative drug companies, balancing product pricing and market acceptance is the core challenge of commercialization.”

While sales fell short of expectations, the company’s promotional expenses remained high. In 2025, sales expenses reached 190 million yuan, 3.7 times the sales revenue of 51.22 million yuan. In other words, for every yuan of Xintaitu sold, 3.7 yuan was spent on promotion.

Looking at the expense structure, among sales expenses, employee compensation, marketing promotion, and office and entertainment expenses were 123 million yuan, 37 million yuan, and 17 million yuan, accounting for 64.64%, 19.48%, and 8.97%, respectively.

In response, the company stated that the commercialization process of innovative biopharmaceuticals is relatively complex, often requiring extensive and ongoing market education, so the level of sales expenses is in line with industry characteristics and market norms.

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Source: Can-Can Stock Photo

Apart from this core product, Tainomab’s other pipelines are still in early stages. Another highly anticipated candidate, TNM001 (anti-RSV monoclonal antibody), is in Phase III clinical trials to prevent respiratory syncytial virus infection in infants, which is a common respiratory infection in babies, and may become the first domestic drug of its kind. There are also other drugs in development targeting pain relief, chickenpox, and shingles, namely TNM009 (pain relief), TNM005 (anti-chickenpox and shingles), and TNM006 (anti-human cytomegalovirus), all in Phase I or earlier stages.

Relying solely on a product in early commercialization, the company’s losses are widening year by year. From 2022 to 2024, Tainomab’s total operating income was only 19.45 million yuan, mainly from small-scale patent transfer income; during the same period, net losses were -429 million yuan, -446 million yuan, and -515 million yuan. In 2025, after the core product’s launch, revenue reached 51.22 million yuan, but net loss was -601 million yuan, totaling a loss of nearly 2 billion yuan over four years.

The continuous losses lead to rapid cash depletion. During the same period, net cash flow from operating activities was -309 million yuan, -369 million yuan, and -580 million yuan, with a total outflow of about 156M yuan over three years. According to the prospectus, the company initially expected to turn a profit by 2027, but this has been delayed to 2029. The company’s asset-liability ratio has risen from 16.54% in 2022 to nearly 90% in 2025, with net assets remaining around 490 million yuan.

However, the company also emphasizes that TNM001 (anti-RSV monoclonal antibody) has good market potential and expected commercialization pace. Tainomab has grown into a platform-type antibody company with the ability to incubate a richer pipeline.

The company plans to raise 1.5 billion yuan in this IPO, with 830 million yuan allocated to new drug R&D projects, 330 million yuan for expanding the antibody manufacturing base, and 340 million yuan for working capital.

02

The 72-year-old American professor’s IPO challenge

Company valuation reaches 5.2 billion yuan

The story of Tainomab cannot be told without its founder—Liao Huaxin.

Liao Huaxin was born in 1953, holds U.S. citizenship. He went to the U.S. for studies in 1985, earned a Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and did a postdoc at Duke University in 1991. Since then, he has been a professor for 22 years, also serving as director of the Duke Human Vaccine Institute, publishing over 200 papers in top journals like Nature, Science, and Cell. His academic record is outstanding.

Later, through the recommendation of academician Chen Zhinan of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Liao Huaxin returned to China to join Jinan University. In 2015, at age 62, he decided to commercialize his laboratory technology, founding Tainomab, where he now serves as chairman and chief technology officer.

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His partner, Zheng Weihong, serves as vice chairman and general manager. With over 20 years in the pharmaceutical industry, he previously was general manager of Beijing Chia Tai Zhenhua Pharmaceutical, holding an EMBA from Peking University HSBC Business School. The two lead the technical and business sides respectively, creating an IPO company.

Over ten years, the company has raised more than 2 billion yuan from a wide range of investors, including Kangzhe Pharma, Hillhouse, China Merchants Bank International, CICC Capital, Gree Jin Investment, and Xicheng Jinyu, among nearly thirty institutions and industry players. After the last capital increase in March 2025, Tainomab’s valuation reached 5.2 billion yuan.

Liao Huaxin and Zheng Weihong are the actual controllers of the company. Among them, Liao Huaxin directly owns 14.15% of Tainomab and indirectly holds 3.11% through Tainomab Management; Zheng Weihong directly owns 4.73%, and through platforms Qinchuan Shiji, Qinchuan Future, Qinchuan Gaoxin, Qinchuan Zhuoyue, and Qinchuan Chaoyue, controls a total of 11.11%. Together, they control 33.1% of the company’s shares.

Other major shareholders include well-known PE institutions: Kangzhe Venture Capital (7.16%), Gekjin No. 8 (7.09%), New Power (5.67%), and Hillhouse Chenjun (4.28%).

It is noteworthy that, while the company continues to lose money, the two actual controllers have already cashed out part of their holdings through share transfers before the IPO. Liao Huaxin has cashed out about 111 million yuan in three transactions (June 2022, April 2023, October 2024), and Zheng Weihong about 71 million yuan during the same period, totaling approximately 182 million yuan.

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Source: Can-Can Stock Photo

More pressure comes from the betting clauses hanging over their heads. According to the prospectus, if the IPO is withdrawn, terminated, rejected, or vetoed, the actual controllers are required to fulfill buyback obligations worth billions of yuan. The company responded that the buyback obligations of the actual controllers are unrelated to the company.

Now, 72-year-old Liao Huaxin stands at the gate of the STAR Market with this globally pioneering tetanus shot. With technological prestige and capital support, the story is compelling. But given the first-year commercialization struggles, the early cash-out by the controllers, and the billions of betting obligations looming, can Liao Huaxin lead Tainomab through this hurdle?

What do you think about Tainomab’s IPO? Feel free to leave your comments below.

Author’s statement: Personal opinions for reference only.