Eight Chinese Cell and Gene Therapy Companies Secure New Funding to Accelerate Pipeline Development
YolTech Therapeutics
mRNA Drug and Gene Editing Drug Developer
Kousai
Developer of Dendritic Cell Tumor Therapeutic Vaccines
In November, multiple companies in China focusing on the cell and gene therapy (CGT) field announced progress in their financing. This article will share basic information on eight of these companies based on publicly available data.
News on November 30: YolTech Therapeutics, a global pioneer in in vivo gene editing and base editing technology, has completed an over RMB 100 million Series A+ financing round, led by Decheng Capital, with participation from Guangzhou Industrial Investment and Huafang Capital. Heryue Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor for this round. Following the over RMB 100 million Series A financing round completed in August last year, which was led by Yuanyi Investment, with participation from K2 Venture Partners,楹联Health Fund, and 9 Combination Ventures, the company has once again secured over RMB 100 million in funding. To date, YolTech Therapeutics' Series A rounds have raised nearly RMB 300 million.
YolTech Therapeutics is a leading company with fundamental patents for CRISPR/Cas and base editing tools globally. The company owns a rare high-throughput gene editor evolution platform in China. Currently, its three major technology platforms—Cas enzymes, base editors, and lipid nanoparticles (LNP)—are all protected by independent intellectual property rights and core patents, ensuring freedom to operate worldwide.The company has gathered numerous internationally top-tier experts in gene editing tool development, mRNA-LNP drug process development, and CMC, rapidly advancing the development and clinical translation of in vivo gene editing drugs mediated by the mRNA-LNP delivery system. It is also globally positioning itself to address various unmet clinical needs, with a pipeline covering genetic disorders, metabolic diseases, and infectious diseases. CurrentlyYolTech Therapeutics' first in vivo gene editing drug pipeline, YOLT-201, has completed toxicology and pharmacology studies.Large animal study results have preliminarily demonstrated the safety and efficacy of YOLT-201, with single-dose in vivo editing efficiency achieving best-in-class performance, showing best-in-class potential. YolTech TherapeuticsYolTech Therapeutics has recently submitted the IND application documents for YOLT-201 to the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA).Expected to initiate China's first registered clinical trial for an in vivo gene editing drug based on mRNA-LNP delivery.
2、Hengsai Bio Completes A-Round Financing Worth Hundreds of Millions
Reported on November 27, Hengsai Biotech successfully completed a hundred-million-level Series A financing this year after completing tens of millions in financing last year. This round of financing was led by Fuhui Venture Capital, with participation from Qinzhi Capital and Kaiqi Kangying, while MB Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor.
Hengsai Biotech, established in 2018, is an innovative technology enterprise dedicated to the research and industrialization of dendritic cell vaccines (DC vaccines) and a national high-tech enterprise. The company has successfully built the Eco-DCVax platform, aiming to break through industrial technical barriers and develop high-quality DC vaccine products that are safe, efficient, convenient for administration, and globally First-in-Class with independent intellectual property rights. The developed product—therapeutic dendritic cell vaccine—provides new treatment approaches and strategies for diseases urgently needing effective treatments in clinical settings, such as recurrent and refractory tumors, chronic viral infections, and autoimmune diseases.Hengsai Biotech's R&D center and pilot workshop located in Lingang Lanwan, Shanghai, were officially put into use in 2021. A large-scale R&D/production base is currently under construction. The company has now established stable cooperative relationships with multiple scientific research institutions and Class III hospitals both domestically and internationally. It is in the process of dual IND submissions in China and the United States, conducting clinical research and technical cooperation to comprehensively verify the clinical safety and efficacy of DC vaccines.
3、QiJia Technology Completes Multi-Million Angel Financing Round
News on November 27: QiJia Technology (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. (referred to as: QiJia Technology) has recently completed an angel round of financing worth tens of millions of RMB. This round of financing was solely led by iFlytek Ventures, with Probe Capital serving as the exclusive financial advisor. The funds raised will be used for the construction and commercial transformation of the human bionic micro-organ technology platform.
4、Zhenzhi Medicine Completes Pre-A+ Round of Financing
On November 14, Zhenzhi Medicine announced the completion of a Pre-A+ round of financing worth tens of millions of RMB. This round was led by Shunxi Fund, under Beijing State-owned Capital Management Center, with participation from existing shareholders Junshi Biosciences, Yahu Investment, and the company's founders. The funds will be used to support the development of antigen T-cell therapy for solid tumors and mRNA therapeutic vaccines for cancer, aiming to provide more innovative treatment options for patients with solid tumors and clinical doctors in China.
Zhenzhi Medicine is a biotechnology company dedicated to developing tumor antigen-specific cell therapies and tumor antigen mRNA therapeutic vaccines. The company has pioneered the use of artificial intelligence/deep learning (AI/ML) algorithms combined with a cross-feedback research model of "tumor immunology multi-omics data + immunology biotechnology" to launch the IMMURITHMS® computational platform, establishing a tumor antigen epitope library and a T-cell receptor database. The company owns a 4,400-square-meter Advanced Therapy Innovation Center capable of high-throughput tumor antigen epitope and TCR validation, preclinical evaluation of mRNA tumor vaccines and cellular drugs, a clinical testing center for tumor immunology, and a B+A grade cell drug preparation workshop compliant with EU EMA, US FDA, and China NMPA requirements, meeting the R&D needs of different stages for early development, exploratory clinical studies, and IND clinical studies of mRNA tumor vaccines and cellular drugs.
5、Cohelix Completes Pre-A Round Financing Worth Tens of Millions of Yuan
On November 13, Carcell Biopharma, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of next-generation delivery systems, announced the completion of a Pre-A round of financing worth tens of millions of RMB. The round was led by Xichuang Investment and joined by Jiayi Investment, with Index Capital serving as the exclusive financial advisor. The funds from this round are planned to be used for advancing red blood cell products through investigator-initiated trial (IIT) clinical trials and moving them towards an IND filing as soon as possible, as well as continuing the development of a lipid nanoparticle (LNP) platform with global intellectual property rights.
Carcellix is a biotechnology company founded by Singapore-based incubator EVX Ventures. In 2021, it successfully completed a $16 million seed funding round led by Huiding Capital, Boyuan Capital, and Legend Star, with the round being oversubscribed. Carcellix has a core team with extensive experience in serial entrepreneurship and biopharmaceuticals, including Lin Xiangqian, Chairman and Founder of EVX Ventures, and Dr. Yeoh Wee Yia, Executive Director; Professor Shi Jiahai from the National University of Singapore, Scientific Founder of the Red Blood Cell Platform; Dr. Zhang Yi, Head of the LNP Platform; and Wu Lanlin, former CEO of Dendreon China, as the founding CEO. Carcellix operates on a diversified platform model following the "hub-and-spoke" approach, establishing two technology platforms. One is an engineered red blood cell platform for delivering proteins, used to develop autoimmune diseases based on immune tolerance mechanisms; the other is an LNP platform for delivering nucleic acids, providing one-stop delivery solutions to nucleic acid drug companies through licensing and service.
6、Haobo Medicine Completes RMB 100 Million Pre-A+ Financing Round
On November 1, AusperBio announced the completion of a 100 million RMB Pre-A+ round of financing. This round was led by the investors from the previous Pre-A round, with the funds having completed USD settlement in the middle of this year. The proceeds will accelerate the global clinical trials of AHB-137 and the research and development of other Med-Oligo™ small nucleic acid innovative drugs under AusperBio's pipeline.
News on November 1Shanghai Bintie Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (referred to as “Bintie Biotech”) has completed an over 100-million-yuan Series A round of financing. This round of financing was led by SDIC Venture Capital, with co-investment from Huangpu Pharmaceutical Fund, Yuanxi Haihe Fund, and others, supporting Bintie Biotech in promoting new technology R&D, commercial production implementation, and international business strategic layout. The funds raised in this round will be used to accelerate the application for registration clinical trials of a novel TCR-T cell therapy product targeting the KRAS G12V mutation, as well as the product development and international cooperation of multiple subsequent innovative pipelines.
Bintie Bio was founded in January 2021, with a registered capital of 20 million yuan, located in the Kangqiao Industrial Zone of Shanghai's Zhangjiang Science City. It is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical technology innovation enterprise focused on the research and development and production of breakthrough immunotherapy drugs for cancer treatment. Its main product is a novel immune cell preparation targeting solid tumors. The company’s founder, Dr. Hu Hongming, has years of in-depth experience in the field of tumor immunology and possesses extensive expertise in basic and clinical research on tumor immunity as well as translational medicine. Several immunotherapy drugs he originally developed have entered the clinical trial stage. Based on this foundation, Bintie Bio has developed multiple product pipelines with independent intellectual property rights. Among them, the TCR-T cell therapy product targeting KRAS mutations has completed TCR screening, in vitro functional identification, and in vivo efficacy experiments. Investigator-initiated trials (IIT) for advanced pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma have been conducted across multiple clinical centers, and it is currently in the preparation stage for IND submission. Additionally, other product pipelines of Bintie Bio have also made significant progress, including TCR-NK products that can be used as allogeneic cell therapies, as well as TCR fusion protein products that can be mass-produced and supplied off-the-shelf.
8、Bowang Pharmaceutical Completes RMB 300 Million A+ Round Financing
November 1 News: Bowang Pharmaceutical has completed a 300 million RMB A+ round of financing. This round of financing was led by SDIC Venture 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, iterate and upgrade the modification technology platform and extracellular liver delivery technology platform, as well as enhance the construction of the company's professional team.
Bowang Pharmaceutical was founded in April 2021, focusing on the development of siRNA drugs and established by several scientists with extensive experience in siRNA drug development. The company is committed to developing a new generation of siRNA drugs to provide patients worldwide with urgently needed and better treatment options. Reportedly, the Bowang Pharmaceutical team has many years of professional expertise in all aspects of RNAi drug development, including nucleic acid sequence design, chemical modification, GalNAc delivery technology, extrahepatic tissue-targeted delivery technology, oligonucleotide synthesis, and CMC. They have already built a complete nucleic acid drug development platform at Bowang Pharmaceutical. Previously, Bowang Pharmaceutical completed an angel round of financing worth tens of millions of yuan exclusively invested by Apricot Capital, as well as an A round of financing exceeding 400 million yuan, with investments from multiple well-known institutions such as Loyal Valley Capital, CPE Yuanfeng, Daoyuan Capital, 3E Innovation Investment, and金沙江联合创投. Since its establishment, Bowang Pharmaceutical has advanced four pipelines into clinical stages, with one pipeline about to enter clinical trials and multiple pipelines confirming PCC. Indications cover cardiovascular diseases, rare diseases, hepatitis B, autoimmune disorders, neurological diseases, and more. Clinical approvals have been obtained in China, the United States, Australia, and other regions.
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