Nucleic Acid Therapeutics Sector Sees Robust Investment Activity in 2023, with Over 30 Companies Raising Nearly RMB 4 Billion

　　【Pharmaceutical Network Industry DynamicsNucleic acid drugs generally refer to multi-unit nucleic acid drug molecules composed of nucleotides or similar nucleotide derivatives as monomers. Since the beginning of this year, the field of nucleic acid drugs has seen active investment and financing. According to statistics, from January to November 2023, 31 companies in China's nucleic acid drug sector have received financing, with a total financing amount of nearly 4 billion yuan.
 

In terms of financing amounts, companies such as Immorna (Hangzhou) Biotechnology Co., Ltd., WestGene Biopharma, and Argo Biopharma rank relatively high.
 

Among them, Immorna (Hangzhou) Biotechnology Co., Ltd. is a company that develops and produces mRNA tumor vaccines based on self-replicating mRNA platform technology. In February this year, Immorna completed a nearly US$100 million Series A+ financing round. The investment institutions included China Reform Innovation Fund, Yuexiu Industrial Fund, Hillhouse Ventures, Zhenji Capital, C&D Emerging Investment, Tailong Capital, Taiyu Capital, and some medical industry strategic and financial investment institutions. Existing shareholders such as Cowin Venture Capital, Huachuang Capital, and Zhejiang Venture Capital continued to increase their investments. This round of financing will mainly be used to support the advancement of multiple clinical trials and preclinical pipeline development. Immorna will also continue to deepen its industrial preparation and technological innovation, actively promoting the layout of mid-to-late stage clinical trials and commercialization.
 

WestGene Bio is a pharmaceutical technology company focusing on the development of mRNA innovative drugs and adjuvants. On June 15, WestGene Bio announced the completion of a 300 million yuan Series A financing round, jointly invested by Beijing Kangchen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Chengdu Guanghua Wutong Equity Investment Fund Management Co., Ltd., Hangzhou Tigermed Equity Investment Partnership (Limited Partnership), Zibo Yingke Jiali Equity Investment Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership), Sichuan Mansa Enterprise Management Partnership (Limited Partnership), and Zhejiang Huaxin Capital Management Co., Ltd. This round of financing will be used to advance the research and development of cancer therapeutic vaccines and clinical trials both in China and overseas.
 

Argo is dedicated to developing a new generation of siRNA drugs to provide better treatment options for patients worldwide. The company has completed a 300 million RMB A+ round of financing in November. This round was led by SDIC Capital, with participation from Huagai Capital, Yuanxi Haihe Fund, and existing shareholder Sanyi Innovation Investment. The proceeds will be used to further advance the global development of four clinical pipelines, discover multiple preclinical candidate drug molecules (PCC), iterate and upgrade the modification technology platform and extracellular liver delivery technology platform, as well as enhance the professional team building within the company.
 

In addition to the three pharmaceutical companies mentioned above, the financing amounts of several other companies, including Ruiji Bio, Yikang Bio, Xingyao Kunze, Huiliao Bio, Simicro, Chuanxin Bio, Lingtaikr, AusperBio, and YolTech Therapeutics, also exceeded 100 million yuan.
 

Among them, Chuanxin Biotech is an RNA drug research and development service provider. The company has established a complete mRNA drug research and development and large-scale production system by introducing LNP delivery technology to rapidly develop novel infectious disease and tumor mRNA vaccines. It will subsequently develop next-generation nucleic acid delivery technology to expand the application of RNA drugs in targeted therapy and protein replacement therapy. In June this year, Chuanxin Biotech received a new round of investment of 150 million yuan from Baik Biological. YolTech Therapeutics, a global in vivo gene editing and base editing technology company, completed an over 100-million-yuan Series A+ financing round in November, bringing its total Series A financing to nearly 300 million yuan to accelerate the development of in vivo gene editing drugs. In November, AusperBio announced the completion of a 100-million-yuan Pre-Series A+ financing round, which will help accelerate the global clinical trials of AHB-137 under AusperBio and the research and development of other Med-Oligo™ small nucleic acid innovative drugs with targeted delivery.
 

As for the reasons why there are relatively more financing events and amounts for nucleic acid drugs this year, some analysts pointed out that, on the one hand, compared with traditional small molecule drugs and antibody drugs, a research and development technology platform centered on delivery technology has been established for nucleic acid drugs, which can improve the drug-like properties and R&D efficiency of nucleic acid drugs and expand their indications to cover more disease areas including chronic diseases; on the other hand, after the epidemic, the R&D and market entry process of mRNA vaccines have been accelerated, which, to a certain extent, paved the way for the R&D path of mRNA drugs and attracted more companies to enter the new track of mRNA drugs.
 

Disclaimer: Under no circumstances shall the information or opinions expressed in this article constitute investment advice to any person.