Two Chinese Biotechs Secure Funding to Advance Cell Therapy Pipelines

　　【Pharmaceutical Network Industry DynamicsAccording to industry statistics, a total of 21 investment and financing events were disclosed yesterday (November 22, 2024), involving 12 domestic companies and 9 foreign companies, with a total financing amount of approximately 11.004 billion yuan. Among them, the medical and health field disclosed 3 investment and financing events, involving 2 domestic companies and 1 foreign company, with a total financing amount of approximately 903 million yuan.
 

Two medical and health enterprises in China are BRL Medicine and ENKE Pharmaceuticals, respectively. Both pharmaceutical companies plan to accelerate the development of their research pipelines through financing.
 

Among the announcements, BRL Medicine Inc. declared the completion of a nearly 200-million-yuan B+ round of financing. This round of financing was led by CSPC Fund, with participation from Beta Fund and other institutions. After securing this round of financing, BRL Medicine will comprehensively promote the clinical transformation and market launch process of its multi-pipeline products, accelerate the global R&D layout of its product pipelines, and bring hope to patients worldwide suffering from genetic diseases, malignant tumors, and autoimmune system diseases.
 

Public information shows that BRL Medicine focuses on gene and cell therapy. Previously, the company's clinical trial application (IND) for "Targeting CD19 Non-viral PD1 Site-specific Integration CAR-T Cell Injection" (pipeline code: BRL-203) was approved by the Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE) of the China National Medical Products Administration. The indication is "moderate or severe refractory systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)." This is a systemic autoimmune disease that can cause damage to multiple organs and tissues such as the kidneys, cardiovascular system, lungs, digestive system, blood system, and eyes, significantly increasing the risk of patients losing their lives. Currently, the prevalence rate in China is about 30-70 per 100,000 people, with a male-to-female ratio of 1:10~12. According to the "Guidelines for Diagnosis and Treatment of Lupus Nephritis in China," the incidence of systemic lupus erythematosus in China is 30.13-70.41 per 100,000 people, corresponding to a patient population of 422,000 to 986,000.
 

NKCell Therapeutics Announces Completion of Tens of Millions of Yuan in A++ Round Financing, Led by 3SBio with Follow-up Investments from Zhangke Herun, Yijin Capital, and Others. The Funds Raised in This Round Will Be Used to Accelerate the Research and Development and Clinical Trial Progress of NKCell Therapeutics' Pipeline Products.
 

Data shows that Enkaice Pharm focuses on the R&D and production of innovative cell drug technologies based on NK cells, aiming to provide patients with more effective and safer precision immunotherapy. According to reports, NK cells will greatly compensate for the shortcomings of CAR-T cell therapy. Synthetic NK cells (SnyNK™) have the potential to break through the limitations of CAR drug targets, achieving precision, multi-functionality, intelligence, and controllability. They are also expected to advance into autoimmune diseases and age-related degenerative diseases. Moreover, from a production perspective, NK cell products can be mass-produced, reducing costs and making them more affordable, showing promising prospects in the future of cell therapy.
 

In terms of the R&D product pipeline, in 2024, two NK cell products from Enkaicell Therapeutics have successively obtained clinical trial (IND) approvals from the U.S. FDA and China's CDE. Enkaicell Therapeutics has achieved a transformation from laboratory to industrialization, as well as a leap from preclinical to clinical stages. The company will initiate Phase I clinical trials for the aforementioned products by the end of this year. Meanwhile, in non-oncology fields, multiple IIT projects are currently underway.
 

It can be found that the above two pharmaceutical companies both belong to the cell immunotherapy track. Regarding the market prospects of this field, statistics show that China's cell therapy market size will grow from 33 billion yuan in 2021 to 58.4 billion yuan in 2030, with a CAGR as high as 53%, indicating enormous future development potential.
 

Disclaimer: In any case, the information or opinions expressed in this article do not constitute investment advice to any person.