Sanegene Bio Secures Nearly $100 Million in Series A+ Financing Led by Tencent Investment and Yuansheng Venture Capital to Advance RNAi Therapeutics

Recently, SANEGENEBIO announced the completion of an over USD 80 million (nearly RMB 600 million) Series A+ financing round. This round was led by Tencent Investment and YuanBio Venture Capital, with participation from Northern Light Venture Capital, Xiamen C&D Emerging Industry Equity Investment, Oriza Holdings, SHC, Shenzhen Capital Group, and TEDAVC, among others. Existing shareholders Qiming Venture Partners, Beijing Alwin Asset Management, Tibet Xianfeng Qiyun Investment Advisory, TF Capital, and Lingang Blue Bay Capital also continued their support. The proceeds from this financing will primarily be used to accelerate the company's IND applications and clinical trials for drug pipelines targeting cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, immune-mediated diseases, as well as to advance the development of its extrahepatic delivery platform and drug discovery efforts.

To date, SANEGENEBIO has secured over $130 million across three rounds of financing. In previous funding rounds, SANEGENEBIO received support from prominent investment firms such as Tibet Xianfeng Qiyun Investment Advisory Co., Ltd., GL Ventures (under Hillhouse Capital), Qiming Venture Partners, TF Capital, Beijing Alwin Asset Management, Ltd., Lingang Blue Bay Capital, and Lanhu Capital.

SANEGENEBIO was founded in 2021 by a team of seasoned scientists in the field of nucleic acid drugs, with a commitment to developing novel RNAi therapies. The company's core team has accumulated years of professional expertise and successful experience in large pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology firms. Shortly after its establishment, SANEGENEBIO quickly built proprietary nucleic acid drug chemical modification platforms and intrahepatic and extrahepatic delivery technology platforms. Based on the LEAD™ (Ligand and Enhancer Assisted Delivery) platform, the company has developed multiple drug pipelines targeting cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, immune-mediated disorders, and neurological conditions. Among these, SGB-3403, a Class 1 new drug for treating hypercholesterolemia, has entered clinical trials in both China and Australia. One product has submitted an IND application in Australia, two products are in the IND-enabling stage, and other pipelines are also advancing simultaneously. SANEGENEBIO has applied for comprehensive patent protection covering its delivery platforms, chemical modifications, target sequences, and candidate drug molecules, establishing a robust technological barrier.

Dr. Wang Weimin, Founder and CEO of SANEGENEBIO"This round of financing is of great significance to the development of SANEGENEBIO. We are very grateful for the recognition and support from many investors. This financing will help us rapidly advance the clinical progress of our core pipeline and international layout, strengthen the core competitiveness of our existing platform, and develop new leading technologies to meet unmet clinical needs, allowing safe, effective, and accessible RNAi innovative therapies to benefit patients worldwide sooner."

A+ Round Lead InvestorYuanBio Venture Capital"Small nucleic acid drugs are one of the most highly regarded innovative therapies in the biopharmaceutical field in recent years, with broad application prospects. SANEGENEBIO, relying on the team's deep expertise in nucleic acid drug development technology and efficient execution, has rapidly established a comprehensive RNAi drug R&D platform and developed a rich product pipeline, accelerating the development of RNAi drugs with innovative and differentiated competitive advantages. YuanBio Venture Capital is optimistic about SANEGENEBIO's growth potential in the RNAi field and hopes to support SANEGENEBIO’s new drug pipeline in fully entering the clinical stage, bringing patients solutions with better efficacy and accessibility as soon as possible."

Northern Light Venture Capital"RNAi technology has experienced 17 years of ups and downs since winning the Nobel Prize in 2006. Finally, in the past five years, six RNAi drugs have been successively launched, expanding from rare diseases to common major diseases, making it one of the few investment tracks in the biotech pharmaceuticals field that combines both certainty and explosiveness. The founding team of SANEGENEBIO has extensive R&D experience in the small nucleic acid drug field, having worked for more than 20 years at several top international small nucleic acid drug companies, making key contributions to their development. We believe that under the leadership of such an excellent team, SANEGENEBIO will quickly grow into an industry leader on par with international standards."

Tibet Xianfeng Qiyun Investment Advisory Co., Ltd."It is a great honor to have led the early investment in SANEGENEBIO since its inception, and this time we continue to be deeply involved and assist the company in completing this round of financing. We have witnessed the growth and development of SANEGENEBIO along the way, and have always believed in the company's R&D capabilities, execution efficiency, and pipeline layout strategy. We look forward to the company becoming a leader in the RNAi field in the future, and we will continue to support the company's development."

GL Ventures"RNA drugs have developed rapidly in recent years, with several siRNA, ASO, and other small nucleic acid therapies successively approved for marketing, showing vast market potential and growth prospects. The founding team of SANEGENEBIO has been deeply engaged in the small nucleic acid field for many years, possessing world-class R&D experience and technical accumulation. The company has already established an efficient pipeline R&D platform, and its first liver-targeting RNAi drug has been approved to enter clinical trials. Meanwhile, SANEGENEBIO is also heavily investing in the development of small nucleic acid delivery systems outside the liver, achieving positive results in multiple target organs, which could unlock broader disease treatment areas and address significant unmet clinical needs."

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP served as legal counsel to SANEGENEBIO in this round of financing.

Tencent Investment, established in 2008, is one of Tencent Group's investment departments and core strategic units, leading the group’s investment-related businesses. Tencent has long been dedicated to investments within the consumer internet and industrial internet sectors globally, focusing on areas such as entertainment and media, consumer retail, livelihood education, financial technology, enterprise services, and overseas investments, while exploring cutting-edge innovations and future possibilities. Over the past decade, Tencent Investment has invested in more than 800 companies, including over a hundred listed companies and unicorn enterprises, covering more than twenty countries and regions worldwide. It is committed to discovering entrepreneurs and enterprises that provide long-term value to users and helping them grow.

YuanBio Venture Capital is an investment institution focused on the early and growth-stage healthcare sector, based in Suzhou bioBAY with a global reach. It has completed investments in over 180 outstanding companies in the life sciences field, spanning four key areas: novel drug development, medical devices, in vitro diagnostics and precision medicine, as well as healthcare services, achieving substantial returns. Among these, 19 companies have gone public on capital markets such as the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the STAR Market. YuanBio Venture Capital has been repeatedly recognized as one of the top 10 venture capital funds in China's healthcare sector and one of the most active healthcare investment institutions in China. With a team of seasoned professional investors and a world-class scientific advisory board, YuanBio Venture Capital possesses extensive experience in entrepreneurship, venture capital, and corporate operations within the biopharmaceutical industry. Leveraging its professionalism, focus, and rich industry resources, we are committed to becoming one of the most successful healthcare and pharmaceutical venture capital funds in China.

Northern Light Venture Capital (NLVC), founded by Mr. Deng Feng in 2005, is a venture capital firm with the mission of "building world-class Chinese entrepreneurs and nurturing world-class Chinese enterprises." It currently manages six U.S. dollar funds and four RMB funds, with assets under management exceeding 30 billion RMB. NLVC focuses on investing in early-stage, technology-driven innovative companies. To date, it has invested in more than 400 outstanding companies in the fields of new technology, healthcare, and new consumer sectors, emphasizing "team, market, and innovation," while growing together with its portfolio companies.

Xiamen C&D Emerging Industry Equity Investment Co., Ltd. is a professional equity asset management institution under the "Fortune Global 500" company C&D Group, established in 2014. With the mission of "creating new value and helping more emerging enterprises achieve better development," the company focuses on new economic sectors such as healthcare, advanced manufacturing, TMT/consumer goods.

Oriza Holdings is a state-owned investment holding company managing funds with a scale exceeding 100 billion yuan. Its businesses cover three major segments: equity investment, debt financing, and investment and financing services. It always adheres to providing growth power for technology innovation enterprises and is committed to becoming the preferred capital service brand for entrepreneurs.

SHC, approved by the Shanghai Municipal People's Government, is a municipal industrial fund with a total target management scale of RMB 500 billion, initiated and established by Shanghai Industrial Group. The fund will leverage Shanghai’s comprehensive advantages in developing the biopharmaceutical industry and rely on industrial resources to build an innovative investment platform in the biopharmaceutical field that is "rooted in Shanghai and Hong Kong, linked with the Yangtze River Delta, and oriented towards the globe." By combining financial capital with industrial resources and integrating domestic and overseas operations, the fund focuses on key areas that align with Shanghai's biopharmaceutical industry development strategy, including high-end biologics, innovative chemical drugs and formulations, advanced medical devices and diagnostics, and innovative business models in healthcare.

Shenzhen Capital Group Co., Ltd. (referred to as "Shenzhen Capital Group") was established in 1999 by the Shenzhen Municipal Government with capital contributions and guidance for social capital investment. The company's mission is to discover and build great enterprises, focusing on uncovering and nurturing innovative value. It has developed into a comprehensive investment group centered on venture capital, managing various funds with a total scale of approximately 465.8 billion yuan. In authoritative rankings of venture capital institutions organized by bodies such as the China Venture Capital Association, Zero2IPO Group, and CVSource, it has consistently ranked among the top for many years. From 2016 to 2022, in the annual selection of China's venture capital institutions by Zero2IPO, Shenzhen Capital Group ranked first among local venture capital institutions. In its venture capital business segment, Shenzhen Capital Group primarily invests in small and medium-sized enterprises, self-innovative high-tech enterprises, and emerging industry enterprises, having invested in and supported 262 companies to achieve public listings.

TEDAVC was founded in October 2000, with a registered capital of 1.686 billion yuan and a management scale exceeding 10 billion yuan. As one of the first professional venture capital institutions in China, after more than two decades of continuous development and accumulation, it has grown into a comprehensive venture capital group engaged in the controlling operation of listed companies, the management services of social funds, and investment activities across China. Its investment areas include healthcare, semiconductors, information technology, intelligent manufacturing, and more.