Pregnant Women's Single Blood Drop May Predict Fetal Congenital Heart Disease Risk; Major Chinese Universities Launch Self-Inspection of Retracted Papers

Jan 05, 2024 19:58 CST Updated 19:58

NEUREGEN

Novel Gene Therapy Drug Developer

1. NEUREGEN Completes Pre-A Round Financing Worth Tens of Millions of Yuan

NEUREGEN (Suzhou) Biomedical Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "NEUREGEN") announced the completion of a multi-million yuan Pre-A round of financing in December 2023. This round of financing was led by Shanghai Science and Technology Venture Capital Co., Ltd., with participation from Wuhan Baiying, Shanghai Sinan Park Science, and Shanghai Biomedical Public Technology Service Co., Ltd., among other institutions. NEUREGEN's founding shareholders (including the core team) also strategically increased their investment. The funds will be used to further accelerate the company’s research and development progress and team-building efforts. In-situ transdifferentiation is a next-generation cell reprogramming technology iteratively developed from the Nobel Prize-winning iPSC technology, marking a significant milestone breakthrough in the field of regenerative medicine. NEUREGEN is a biotechnology company aiming to develop novel gene therapy drugs using its proprietary in-situ cell transdifferentiation technology.

2. Oncologie Secures $100 Million in Series A Financing to Advance Cancer Treatment Drug Development

OnQuality Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to transforming cutting-edge oncology drugs into innovative therapies to benefit cancer patients worldwide, announced the completion of an oversubscribed $100 million (over 700 million RMB) Series A financing round. The financing was led by Novo Holdings, OrbiMed, and F-Prime Capital from the United States, with participation from Sofinnova Investments, Catalio Capital Management, Marshall Wace, Forge Life Science Partners, Blackbird BioVentures, CJNV BioVentures, and Boyuan Capital, where Boyuan Capital was one of the co-leading investors in the seed round.

3. Due to the mass withdrawal of papers by Chinese scholars, universities such as Wuhan University and Shandong University have initiated self-inspections of withdrawn papers.

According to the report by The Paper, recent messages on the websites of Wuhan University, Shandong University, Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Henan University of Finance and Economics, and other universities revealed that due to the withdrawal of a large number of papers published by Chinese scholars by foreign publishing institutions such as Hindawi, which has negatively impacted China's academic reputation and environment, the Department of Science and Technology and Informatization of the Ministry of Education recently issued the "Notice on Carrying Out Self-Inspection of Withdrawn Papers" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice"). It was decided that self-inspection work on withdrawn papers would be conducted in all universities. Currently, education departments in Henan, Shaanxi, Hebei, Fujian, and other regions have already issued relevant notices on carrying out self-inspections of withdrawn papers.

4. Eggs Provide a Low-Cost Model for Cancer Imaging Research

In cancer research, scientists often need to use animal models for drug development and diagnostic imaging. However, the high cost of using mouse models to replicate diseases, combined with unstable tumor incidence rates and animal welfare concerns, has led scientists to seek alternatives. Recently, in a study published in npj Imaging, scientists proposed that fertilized eggs could be used as an alternative to mouse models in preclinical cancer research to cultivate tumors for imaging.

5. A Drop of Blood from Pregnant Mothers May Predict the Risk of Congenital Heart Disease in Fetuses

Fudan University Multidisciplinary Team Collaborates with Xin Hua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine to Discover That Plasma Protein Biomarkers in Early Pregnancy Can Predict the Occurrence of Congenital Heart Disease in Fetuses. Recently, the authoritative journal *EMBO Molecular Medicine* under the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) published the relevant research findings. Researcher Chen Ding, Deputy Director of the Institute of Human Phenome at Fudan University and co-corresponding author of the paper, stated that the research team will validate the efficacy of this predictive model in a larger population in the future and develop related testing kits.

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