StarryGene, a Chinese gene therapy company, has completed its A2 round of financing

In recent years, gene therapy has become a frontier in the global biopharmaceutical innovation landscape, demonstrating tremendous potential to conquer various intractable diseases. Against the backdrop of China's "Healthy China" strategy and the transformation and upgrading of the biopharmaceutical industry, the gene therapy sector continues to gain momentum. A group of local companies with independent innovation capabilities is rapidly emerging, propelling multiple gene therapy products into the mid-to-late stages of clinical trials, with broad industrialization prospects. Among these, gene therapies using Adeno-Associated Virus (AAV) as a vector have attracted widespread attention from both domestic and international capital and industry players due to their highly efficient and stable gene transduction abilities, becoming one of the most promising treatment approaches for hereditary eye diseases, neurological disorders, and other fields.

Recently, Hefei Xingmou Biotechnology (StarryGene), which focuses on AAV ophthalmic gene therapy, announced the successful completion of a multi-million RMB A2 round of financing, with investors including Co-Win Ventures and CAS Venture Capital.

Xingmou Biotech, an innovative company incubated by the Institute of Advanced Technology of the University of Science and Technology of China, is located in the High-tech Zone of Hefei City, Anhui Province. Since its establishment in August 2019, the company has been committed to the research and development of cutting-edge gene therapy technologies and related products. It has two core technology platforms: 1. AAV-antibody gene drug platform, including a bispecific antibody optimization platform and a capsid screening platform; 2. Gene editing technology platform, including TRED technology (Targeted-RecA Enhanced homology Directed repair, an innovative gene editing method based on CRISPR/Cas9/MS2-RecA) and BE technology (Base Editing).

Based on the aforementioned technology platform, the company has developed and laid out multiple gene therapy drugs targeting different indications.

Among them, the company's core product, XMVA09 injection, based on its excellent Phase I clinical safety and efficacy data, has successfully advanced to Phase II clinical research. It has not only become the world's first AAV vector bispecific antibody gene therapy drug to enter Phase II clinical trials but also the first ophthalmic AAV gene therapy project based on a novel capsid vector to reach Phase II clinical trials in China.

The company stated that the proceeds from this financing will be mainly used to support the research and development process of its core products, with a focus on advancing the Phase II clinical trial of XMVA09 for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (wAMD). Meanwhile, it will also accelerate the pharmaceutical research, preclinical development, and investigator-initiated trials (IIT) for dry age-related macular degeneration (dAMD) and thyroid eye disease (TED).