Eight CGT Companies Secure Funding in June 2024 Amid Surge in IPO Preparations

Jun 23, 2024 07:00 CST Updated 07:00

Leman Biotech

Developer of Novel Tumor Immunotherapy Drugs

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The biopharmaceutical/biotechnology field remains a hot area for investment in China's healthcare industry in recent years.Cell and Gene Therapy (CGT)The field has gradually become a focus of investment attention. Since 2024, several China-based CGT companies have announced financing progress, and in June, eight more CGT companies secured funding. The summary is as follows:

Kangyuan Medical

On June 4, Kangyuan Medical Technology (Dalian) Co., Ltd., a leading industrial platform enterprise in China specializing in selective adsorption materials, completed a financing round worth tens of millions of yuan, led by Daotong Investment. The funds will primarily be used for new product development, core technology enhancement, and advancement of product clinical trials.

Kangyuan Medical Technology (Dalian) Co., Ltd. was established in November 2016. The company is an innovative selective materials industrialization platform with complete independent intellectual property rights, and is a rare platform of its kind in China.In the pharmaceutical field, the company addresses the issue of high costs associated with imported core affinity chromatography consumables.Pioneered the development of affinity chromatography media for gene therapy vectors in China, The product has comparable yield and purity to imported products for gene therapy vectors of multiple serotypes.Is expected to help gene therapy companies reduce production costs and improve the accessibility of gene therapy technology.

Recently, the company has reached a strategic cooperation with a gene therapy company in Beijing on the application promotion of AAV broad-spectrum affinity chromatography media and chromatography columns, specific nanobody screening, and quantitative preparation, etc. Together, they will promote the localization and scaling up of key purification consumables in the downstream process of gene therapy, improve the harvest efficiency of downstream purification processes for gene therapy drugs, and further enhance the production capacity of China-made gene therapy products as well as the coordination and improvement of upstream and downstream industrial chains. In addition, both parties will also carry out technical cooperation in multiple aspects such as the screening, development, preparation, and material synthesis services of AAV series products, comprehensively accelerating the localization process of key consumables for gene therapy drugs and promoting the industrialization of gene drugs.

Leman Bio

June 18, Leman BiotechAnnounced the completion of two additional rounds of financing, totaling 50 million yuan, in the Angel+ and Angel++ rounds.The new shareholders in this round of financing include Fuhui Venture Capital, Yunfan Technology Investment, and private financial investors, while the existing shareholders Tiantu Investment and Jingxin Technology continued their support. In addition, Leman Biotech Co., Ltd. and its metabolically enhanced CAR-T project have successively received various grants totaling approximately 20 million yuan.So far, Leman has cumulatively received approximately 150 million yuan in angel financing and project funding.This round of financing will be mainly used for the IND application of metabolism-enhanced CAR-T cell therapy drugs, and to accelerate the clinical research of metabolism-enhanced cell therapy drugs targeting solid tumors.

Leman's proprietary metabolically enhanced CD19 CAR-T cell therapy is currently undergoing IIT clinical research at the First Affiliated Hospital of the University of Science and Technology of China (Anhui Provincial Hospital) and the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine. The project has successfully completed enrollment and treatment of over 20 adult patients with relapsed or refractory leukemia/lymphoma, all achieving complete remission (CR) and being discharged. Additionally,Clinical Research (IIT) on Metabolism-Enhanced CD19 CAR-T Successfully Launched at the Children's Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine by the End of March 2024, marking that the indications for this therapy will be further expanded to include pediatric relapsed or refractory CD19-positive B-cell hematologic malignancies.

Notably, the metabolically enhanced CD19 CAR-T cell therapy not only achieved complete remission (CR) in over 20 patients with advanced relapsed or refractory leukemia/lymphoma in the IIT clinical study, but also required an extremely low drug dose—only 1% of the commercialized CAR-T dose. This breakthrough will significantly shorten the production cycle of the drug, markedly reduce CAR-T manufacturing costs, and is expected to substantially lower the originally "astronomical" price of cellular therapeutics, making it possible for this product to be included in China's national medical insurance directory in the future.

R&D Pipeline

Gajin Bio

On June 15, ChainGen Bio (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. ("ChainGen Bio") successfully completed a new round of financing, exclusively invested by Phase I of the Zhangjiang Life Health Industry Incubation Angel Fund ("Zhangke He Miao Fund").

Caribou Biosciences focuses on drug conjugation and delivery technologies, and is the first in China to develop antibody-small nucleic acid conjugate drugs, filling the gap in extrhepatic delivery of nucleic acid drugs, bringing hope to patients with neuromuscular diseases who have long suffered from a lack of effective treatments. Additionally, Caribou Biosciences' brain-penetrating peptide-Brainferry platform has the potential to assist macromolecular drugs, including small nucleic acids, in crossing the blood-brain barrier, bringing transformative change to the treatment of a broader range of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.

The investor of this round, Zhangjiang He Miao Fund, is an angel fund established within the Zhangjiang Group system by Zhangjiang Science Investment to promote the life and health industry. It focuses on early-stage investments in innovative drugs, cell and gene therapy, synthetic biology, medical devices, and other advantageous sectors.

Saiqiao Biotech

On June 14, 2024, Saqiao Ark officially announced the completion of its Series B financing.This round of financing amounted to nearly 200 million RMB,Led by 3E Bioventures Capital, with participation from Hongsheng Capital, and continued support from existing shareholders such as Shuimu Ventures, Tengye Ventures, Chang Development, and Shenzhen Angel Mother Fund. Special thanks to Golobe Capital for their strong support in this round of financing. The funds will accelerate the commercialization process of new quality production equipment. In line with the industry's long-term development goals and ultimate requirements, Saichiao Biotechnology is committed to assisting clients in enhancing the commercial competitiveness of their products, with the aim of accelerating the critical turning point in the industry’s industrialization.

CellBridge Biotech has established strategic partnerships with several leading clients in the industry.Completed the layout of various downstream therapies in the CGT field, including CAR-T, NK, TILs, TCR-T, and gene therapy.Currently, Saichiao Bio has supported the process declaration or changes for 33 leading pipelines, creating the largest-scale process collaboration record in China. Notably, Saichiao's partner clients have submitted their IPO applications and are expected to become the first China-produced CGT new productivity provider serving the large-scale commercial production of cell-based drugs.

In terms of end-product applications, Saichiao Biotechnology actively collaborates with medical institutions, research institutes, and industry partners. By fully leveraging the advanced preparation process research achievements of customers, as well as Saichiao Biotechnology's technical advantages in cell processing tools and automation equipment, the company drives innovation through the deep integration of processes and tools. This enhances production quality while significantly reducing costs. Combined with Saichiao’s super cell factory, it achieves seamless integration from R&D to commercial-scale production.

Kaituo Biotech

On June 12, CATUG Biotechnology announced the completion of a new round of financing worth nearly 100 million yuan. This round of financing was led by EF Capital and Zhiyi Investment, with follow-up investments from Yuanhe Holdings and Suzhou Industrial Park Science and Technology Innovation Fund.

Kaituo Biotech was established in 2021. From the outset, it positioned itself in the advanced therapy field, focusing on innovative nucleic acid drug CRDMO services. Despite the complex market environment influenced by the pandemic and industry cycles, it has received strong support from multiple investors and rapidly ranked among the first tier of CDMOs in the nucleic acid therapy field within nearly three years.This round of funding will be used for the overseas business expansion of Cat's Bio and the upgrade of its full-process CRDMO service capabilities, strengthening the company's core competitiveness in the nucleic acid drug technology sector.

CATUG Biotech has operational bases in China, the United States, and Switzerland, with R&D centers and GMP production bases in Suzhou and Wuhan. The core team of CATUG Biotech comes from top international and domestic biotechnology companies, as well as renowned universities and research institutions at home and abroad, possessing extensive industrial technology and management experience in the fields of gene therapy and nucleic acid therapy. Starting with four core technological service platforms—high-quality large-scale plasmid process development and production, mRNA synthesis and delivery full-process development and production, nucleic acid analysis methods, and quality research—the company is committed to building a top-tier technological platform and becoming a paragon in the new generation of innovative biotechnology industries.

Lansum Bio

On June 11, Leman Biotech Co., Ltd., an innovative gene therapy pharmaceutical company, announcedCompleted B+ Round FinancingThis round of financing was led by Shanghai Biomedical Fund, with co-investment from shareholders such as Lianhe Investment.

Leman Biotech was founded in 2020, dedicated to the research, development, and manufacturing of innovative gene therapy drugs. Since its establishment, the company has built a GMP-compliant, scalable platform for AAV production, capable of developing high-yield, high-quality gene therapy products with controllable costs. This round of financing will further accelerate Leman Biotech's R&D and industrialization progress in the field of innovative gene therapy drugs.

Currently, the company has advanced 5 candidate molecules into clinical trials, taking the lead in conducting gene therapy clinical research in 3 indications of blinding eye diseases, and obtained 3 INDs.ItsThe first pipeline LX101 for the treatment of RPE65 mutation-associated inherited retinal dystrophy (IRD) has entered Phase III clinical trials; the second pipeline LX102 for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration has entered Phase II clinical trials; the third pipeline LX103 for the treatment of X-linked retinoschisis has completed IIT trials in six patients, showing significant safety and efficacy.

MicroEvolution Medical

Recently, Galileo Capital announced the completion of its angel round investment in MicroEvolution (Beijing) Medical Technology Co., Ltd. (referred to as: MicroEvolution Medical).

MicroEvolution Medical, a cross-species tumor gene therapy service provider established on November 20, 2023, focuses on plant RDR1 protein-mediated miRNA repair therapy as its core technology, offering new solutions for clinical needs involving recurrent and refractory cases with no available treatments. This therapy holds immense market potential and value, with the prospect of becoming the first broad-spectrum anti-tumor platform applicable to multiple cancer indications.

MicroEvolution Healthcare's pioneering technology, plant RDR1 protein-mediated miRNA repair therapy, utilizes a plant gene expression system to mediate miRNA repair in human tumor cells, thereby suppressing tumor growth. This technology not only offers new solutions for clinical needs but also demonstrates broad applicability and promising market potential.

Advanced Medicine Partners

On June 5, in Durham, North Carolina, Advanced Medicine Partners, an organization specializing in process development, manufacturing, analytical development, and testing of advanced therapy products for gene and cell therapy viral vectors, completed a funding round led by Deerfield Management.$32 Million in New Financing, and received additional support from ARCH Venture Partners and other investors. Following the completion of the latest round of financing, the total direct financing since the spin-off of Advanced Medicine Partners and Jaguar Gene Therapy will reach up to 60 million US dollars.

Advanced Medicine Partners is committed to accelerating the development of advanced innovative drugs, enabling partner companies to bring positive changes to the patients they serve. The company has one of the most experienced gene therapy teams in the industry, leveraging their expertise to produce first-class advanced therapeutic and analytical products, with particular proficiency in viral vectors used for gene and cell therapies. Advanced Medicine Partners' unique production platform consistently maintains the highest yield in the industry, while continuously pushing the limits of purity.

Summary

Despite the intense competition in the CGT sector, many companies continue to attract investors with unique advantages such as pipeline progress, technology platforms, and R&D capabilities. Looking ahead,With the in-depth exploration in the CGT field, safer and more effective drugs and therapies for diseases will continue to emerge.The market will掀起 another wave of investment热潮.

Reference: Official websites of various companies