Abalone Bio & Sihuan Pharmaceutical Launch Collaboration to Develop a Novel Obesity Drug

EMERYVILLE, CA, UNITED STATES, October 30, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Abalone Bio, the only therapeutics biotech company measuring the large-scale activity datasets needed for AI-powered discovery and design of rare activating antibodies that can unlock undruggable targets, has announced a multi-million dollar co-discovery research collaboration with Sihuan Pharmaceutical (0460.HK), a Hong Kong-listed pharmaceutical company, to develop a next-generation obesity treatment.

Together, they are developing safe and effective drugs to increase energy expenditure while preserving or enhancing muscle mass, addressing one of the major limitations of current obesity therapies.

The collaboration includes a multi-million dollar upfront investment from Sihuan, with Abalone positioned to receive additional sales-based payments that have the potential to surpass $1 billion.

Abalone’s target-activating antibody discovery platform is central to the effort. Unlike traditional antibody discovery methods that focus on binding affinity, Abalone’s approach uses engineered cells to measure antibody function at an unmatched scale to produce the data needed to discover and create antibodies to successfully drug GPCRs that regulate metabolic processes. GPCRs are large and dynamic membrane proteins that require precise structural adjustments to modulate their activities, and discovering antibodies that activate GPCRs remains a pressing challenge.

“Our platform’s ability to discover antibody-based GPCR modulators, combined with Sihuan’s robust R&D capabilities and expertise in metabolic diseases, in addition to their strong position in Greater China and Asia, enable us to together address major unmet needs in the obesity space.” said Richard Yu PhD, CEO and co-founder of Abalone Bio

“We are pleased to deepen our collaboration with Abalone Bio. By leveraging Abalone's proprietary technology platform, we aim to develop next-generation obesity therapy that addresses a key limitation of current treatments—muscle loss. This strategic move will further strengthen our footprint in the metabolic and medical aesthetics sectors.” said Dr Fengsheng Che, Chairman of Sihuan Pharmaceutical

Further details of the agreement remain confidential, as mutually agreed upon by both parties.

About Abalone Bio

Abalone Bio is revolutionizing antibody drug discovery by addressing one of the most challenging problems in pharma: the functional modulation—especially activation—of hard-to-drug membrane proteins, starting with G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs). Through its proprietary Functional Antibody Selection Technology (FAST), Abalone Bio is the only company measuring functional activity data at scale to enable AI-driven discovery of active therapeutics. By engineering yeast cells to assess the activity of millions of antibody variants, the company produces the scale of data necessary to leverage AI to discover and create functionally active antibodies. Abalone Bio’s next-generation biologic therapies, starting in metabolic disorders and inflammation, are transforming the landscape of drug discovery.

About Sihuan Pharmaceutical

Founded in 2001 and listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited in 2010, Sihuan Pharmaceutical is an international medical aesthetic and pharmaceutical company led by innovation, with an independent and leading research and development technology platform, a rich global product pipeline, strong product registration capability, a full dosage form production platform with high efficiency and low cost and a mature and excellent sales system. Adhering to the overall strategic goal for the “full promotion of a two-wheel drive strategy of its medical aesthetics and biopharmaceutical businesses”, Sihuan Pharmaceutical endeavors to build itself into a leading medical aesthetics and biopharmaceutical company in China.

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Abalone Bio
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