Bochu Bio Raises Angel+ Round Funding, Pioneers Electrochemical Deposition (EDP) Technology to Break the "Membrane Curse" in High-End Biomaterials

The Billion-Dollar Biofunctional Membrane Market Finally Set to Break the "Membrane" Curse.

According to VCBeat's exclusive information,Bochuang Biotech announced that it has secured an angel+ round of financing led by Suzhou Jiasheng Venture Capital Management Co., Ltd., with Christine following up on the investment.This round of funding will be used for the subsequent development and commercialization of the company's core products, the oral bone tissue-guided membrane (E-Gide) and the highly transparent collagen artificial cornea (E-Colcornea), as well as the exploratory development of new artificial heart valve products.

This round of financing is the second new funding that Bochuang Biotech has received within half a year after obtaining angel round funding from Daotong Investment in March 2023, fully demonstrating the investment institutions' recognition and confidence in the development of Bochuang Biotech.

Bochuang Biotech was founded in June 2022, focusing on the research and development and scientific transformation of high-end bio-tissue engineering membranes and derivative medical devices. Its core competitive advantage lies in the development and production of tissue function membranes based on controllable electrochemical deposition technology. The company has currently developed multifunctional oral repair membranes and highly transparent collagen artificial corneas. Recently, it successfully broke the foreign monopoly on high-purity and high-activity collagen, achieving batch production of domestically produced high-purity collagen raw materials.Bochuang Biotech was incubated by the Shanghai University Innovation Center in Suzhou and deeply participated by the Interventional Medical Technology Research Institute of Suzhou Industrial Technology Research Institute.

Bochuang Biotech Exhibition Hall

The company initially relied on the scientific research strength of academician teams from East China University of Science and Technology and others to accumulate technical expertise. After a decade of technological challenges, it internationally pioneered the Electrochemical Deposition (EDP) technology platform.

EDP Technology for Multi-Scale Biomimetic Precision Structural Control and Rapid Efficient Fabrication of Biological Tissue Functional Membranes

It is reported that the film-making efficiency of Bochuang Biotech using electrochemical deposition technology (EDP) is more than 10 times that of traditional methods, allowing for the rapid preparation of tissue function membranes within tens of minutes. Moreover, the tissue function membranes prepared through EDP possess high light transmittance, excellent mechanical properties, and a porous structure, meeting various needs in tissue isolation, repair, replacement, and regeneration scenarios, enabling personalized customization.

Targeting the two rapidly growing markets of alveolar bone repair and diseased cornea repair in China, Bochuang Biotech has developed two products using EDP technology to regulate molecular assembly on specially shaped electrode surfaces: an asymmetric structured guided tissue regeneration membrane for oral bone repair (E-Gide) and a highly transparent, customizable bionic artificial cornea (E-Col).

Currently, most oral membranes on the market are imported, and they are expensive, with a single piece of membrane about the size of a fingernail costing more than 2,000 yuan. The raw materials for these membranes are often processed using decellularized matrix or electrospinning techniques. These manufacturing processes are not only relatively complex, leading to low production efficiency, but also pose risks of harmful substance residues.

Bochuang Biotech's Multi-functional Oral Repair Membrane (E-Gide) uses electrochemical deposition technology (EDP) to rapidly prepare a composite oral bone tissue-guided membrane with an ideal asymmetric structure from newly-formed collagen in an aqueous phase. Leveraging the high tissue repair activity of the company’s new collagen raw materials, it significantly enhances alveolar bone repair effectiveness and safety while greatly improving production efficiency and reducing costs. It is suitable for oral surgical repairs involving conditions with bone augmentation needs such as dental implants, periodontal disease, orthodontics, and cleft lip/palate.

Bochuang Biotech Multifunctional Oral Repair Membrane (E-Gide)

Currently, the main types of artificial corneas on the market are artificial corneal prostheses and decellularized porcine corneal stroma. The former is expensive, not suitable for cases of corneal stromal lesions, and associated with complications such as corneal hyperplasia, tissue necrosis, and dissolution; the latter has issues like increased thickness and reduced transparency. If the cells are not completely removed, it can also trigger an immune response in the host to residual cells and DNA in the porcine cornea, leading to neovascularization.

Bochuang Biotech uses electrochemical nanodeposition technology (EDP) to induce oriented alignment of nanocollagen fibers, producing highly transparent biomimetic artificial collagen corneas (E-Colcornea). Through specially designed electrode plates and precise control of deposition time, the technology achieves accurate control of corneal thickness and curvature to meet patients' refractive needs.

The advantage lies in the fact that collagen possesses excellent biocompatibility and can be processed into a biomimetic collagen fiber structure, which reduces the host's immune rejection response, prevents the ingrowth of new blood vessels and material opacification, and maintains high transparency during its service life. Moreover, the high bioactivity of collagen can enhance the epithelialization rate, accelerate the repair of the anterior corneal stroma, and ultimately integrate with the host tissue to restore normal corneal thickness, promoting the success rate of corneal repair. Additionally, this product has significant advantages in fine structure control, bioactivity, and production cost. It is suitable for corneal repair in infectious keratitis, ocular trauma, bullous keratopathy, and repeat corneal transplantation.

Bochuang Biotech Highly Transparent Collagen Artificial Cornea (E-Col)

In the future, the company will expand horizontally based on electrochemical deposition technology (EDP), developing various products such as pelvic floor repair membranes, dura mater, and nerve conduits, to drive a leap forward in China-produced membrane repair materials.

For a long time, Japan has been globally recognized as a collagen giant, holding more than half of the global market share. Not only Chinese companies, but also enterprises from many other countries have been struggling with "collagen issues" for a long time.

On July 21, Bochuang Biotech announced the successful trial production of its self-developed Type I neo-active collagen raw material. The prepared Type I neo-collagen uses neo-fetal bovine as the raw material source, resulting in stronger activity, higher purity, better safety, and higher transparency after dissolution, reaching international leading standards. While maintaining the natural activity and structure of collagen, the current solution (6 mg/mL) achieves a light transmittance of over 95%, providing solid support for the subsequent development and preparation of the company's controllable electrochemical bio-tissue functional membranes, especially for corneal product research.

Bochuang Biotech Newborn Collagen Raw Material

Bochuang Biotech Collagen Solution

Comparison of Bochuang Biotech Collagen Solution with Collagen Quality at Home and Abroad

"Previously, the Japanese collagen we imported required pre-treatment to remove impurities before use. Now, we not only have achieved independent production but also with higher purity," said Dr. Tan Haoqi, General Manager of Bochuang Biotech. The successful development of high-purity neo-collagen by Bochuang Biotech has not only broken international monopolies but also significantly reduced the production costs of subsequent medical device products. Moreover, due to the high purity of the collagen, further raw material purification processes such as dialysis are no longer needed during subsequent processing, greatly shortening the time required for electrochemical controlled deposition processes and improving production efficiency.

In addition, collagen has an extremely wide range of clinical applications and can be used for medical dressings, drug release stents, etc. It not only has broad market prospects but also provides a solid foundation for Bochuang Biotech to further enrich its product pipeline.

With outstanding R&D momentum and vibrant innovation, Bochuang Biotech secured two rounds of financing within half a year and won the Most Innovative Project Award at the "5th Medical Device Innovation and Entrepreneurship Conference" in May this year. Additionally, the company recently completed the setup of its R&D laboratory and pilot production workshop, providing a solid foundation for innovative research, development, and industrialization of high-purity collagen raw materials and controllable electrochemical deposition bio-tissue functional membrane materials.

Bochuang Biotech GMP Production Workshop

Founder of Bochuang Biotech, Tan HaoqiStated: "There is still a significant gap between China and international standards in the processing of high-end bio-tissue functional membranes and the extraction of high-purity collagen raw materials. Bochuang Biotech will leverage its two major platform technology advantages accumulated over the years—controllable electrochemical deposition and high-purity active collagen raw materials—to organically integrate them, adhering to the principle of 'Compassion and Innovation-driven Development.'"’The development philosophy is to rapidly advance the existing product development while exploring more and better medical device products for application in the rehabilitation process of more patients.

Founder of Jiasheng Venture Capital, Zhao Dongliang"We are honored to have discovered and participated in the early stage of such an excellent project with development potential like Bochuang Biotech. We hope our investment can help accelerate Bochuang Biotech's rapid growth, and together we will witness its continuous innovation and development in the fields of high-end bio-tissue functional membrane processing and high-purity collagen raw material extraction."

Suzhou Jiasheng Venture Capital Partnership (Limited Partnership) (hereinafter referred to as "Jiasheng Fund") is a private equity investment fund registered with the Asset Management Association of China, and its manager is Suzhou Jiasheng Venture Capital Management Co., Ltd.

Jiasheng Fund focuses on interventional medical projects as its core investment area, exploring, investing in, and integrating medical resources with disruptive innovative technologies worldwide. It organizes and conducts life science technology exploration, industry incubation, investment operations, and other activities. From funding, industry expertise, operational services, and more, it balances both hardware and software resources to empower projects across the entire chain from technology to product to commercialization.