YiMufeng Secures Nearly RMB 200 Million in Series A+ Financing to Advance Multiple CAR-T Pipeline Programs into Clinical Development

2022Year12Month30Day, Shanghai, China · Suzhou—Immunofoco,A leading innovative cell therapy pharmaceutical development company, announced the completionA+Nearly 200 million yuan in financing. This round of investment was led by SDIC Venture Capital, with participation from Guosheng Capital and others. The funds raised in this round will be mainly used to accelerate the advancement of the company's subsidiaries.IMC001、IMC002、IMC008Clinical research on multiple pipelines.

IMC001, an autologous EpCAM-CAR-T product developed based on the clinical strategy of "transforming solid tumors into liquid tumors," blocks recurrence and metastasis, offering long-term survival benefits to patients. It is currently undergoing IIT clinical research. Among the four end-stage gastric cancer patients who have completed efficacy evaluation, as orally reported at the ESMO 2022 conference, the disease control rate reached 100% after a single administration of IMC001. Two of these patients achieved partial response (PR), resulting in an ORR of 50%. One PR case has sustained remission for a year, while the second PR patient has reached a surgically operable state. These results preliminarily validate the feasibility of the aforementioned strategy.

IMC002 is an autologous CLDN18.2-CAR-T developed based on highly specific VHH antibodies, demonstrating good safety and efficacy in preclinical studies and IIT research. The product has recently submitted an IND application to the CDE, making it the first CLDN18.2-CAR-T product based on VHH antibody development to file for an IND in China. IMC002 is also undergoing IND filing in the United States and received FDA Orphan Drug Designation on July 18, 2022.

IMC008 is a CAR-T product developed using the SNR-CAR-T platform technology that overcomes tumor heterogeneity. IMC008 has demonstrated excellent safety and the ability to eliminate heterogeneous tumors in animal tumor models, and an IIT research application has been submitted.

In addition, the company's unique Peri Cruiser^®Technical platform, effectively avoiding on-target off-tumor (OTOT) toxicity in solid tumors, enhancing the safety and efficacy of CAR-T applications in solid tumors. Subsequently, by further arming CAR-T cells or combining with other therapies, safe and effective CAR-T treatments can be achieved, which is expected to truly break through the treatment of solid tumors.

Immunofoco Founder and CEO Sun MinminRepresentation:Immunofoco Focuses on the Blue Ocean of Solid Tumor Cell Therapy, Integrating Clinical Practice, Scientific Discovery, and Biotechnology to Break Through the Bottleneck of Solid Tumor Treatment and Bring Innovative Drugs with Long-Term Survival Benefits to Cancer Patients. Amidst the Current Capital Winter, We Are Honored to Have Garnered the Favor of Investors Such as SDIC Venture Capital and Guosheng Capital. This Recognition Affirms the Capability of the Immunofoco Team and Supports Our Vision of Advancing Cell Therapy Pipelines to Overcome Solid Tumors. We Will Double Our Efforts and Accelerate the Clinical Research of Our Product Pipelines to Reward Both New and Existing Investors. Here, I Would Also Like to Thank Our Team for Their More Than Two Years of Hard Work and Dedication, Rapidly Building R&D and Pilot Production Platforms, Quickly Validating Innovative Technologies and Product Pipelines, and Efficiently Advancing Clinical Studies, Allowing Immunofoco to Develop in an Effective and Steady Manner. Meanwhile, We Look Forward to More Innovative Talents Joining Immunofoco to Jointly Scale the Heights of Solid Tumor Treatment.

SDIC VentureIndicates:Cell and Gene Therapy (CGT) is a key area supported by the national biopharmaceutical industry strategy. As an emerging form of drug development, CGT has achieved a series of breakthroughs in cancer treatment in recent years. Its advantages, such as longer-lasting efficacy and long-term benefits from a single treatment, have not only transformed the way humans treat genetic diseases and complex conditions but are also disrupting the pharmaceutical ecosystem, driving the industry into a phase of large-scale industrialization. As a fund with the mission of "serving the national innovation strategy and focusing on the transformation of scientific and technological achievements," SDIC Venture Capital has made multiple strategic investments in the CGT field to support rapid industry growth and ecosystem building. Immunofoco is committed to applying CAR-T therapy in the field of solid tumors. The company has a product translation team composed of scientists and industry elites, with extensive experience and high efficiency in the CAR-T drug industrialization field. The innovative target selection and unique clinical positioning of its leading pipeline have already demonstrated strong drug potential in clinical trials, and it is expected to become an important approach for treating various types of solid tumors in the future. We are pleased that Immunofoco has joined SDIC Venture Capital’s CGT ecosystem. SDIC Venture Capital will fully leverage its platform advantages, connect industry resources, and support Immunofoco in reaching new heights.

Guosheng CapitalIndicates:Immunofoco adopts a unique perspective to develop CAR-T cell therapy products for solid tumors, and the feasibility of its strategy has been preliminarily validated in IIT trials.

We hope that Immunofoco will continue to leverage its competitive advantages in niche market segments, accelerate the development of key technology platforms and innovative products with independent intellectual property rights, continuously attract upstream and downstream enterprises in the industry chain to gather, and gradually become a critical link and leading enterprise in the industrial ecosystem and supply chain strengthening efforts of Tianfu International Bio City. We also believe that with the collaborative support of the government, the park, and the company, Immunofoco will embrace faster development and a brighter future.

SDIC Venture Capital was established in 2016 as a venture capital fund management company specifically set up by the State Development & Investment Corporation (SDIC) to implement the national innovation-driven development strategy, deepen its comprehensive strategic cooperation with the Ministry of Science and Technology, and accelerate the transfer and transformation of national scientific and technological achievements through market-oriented methods. SDIC Venture Capital focuses on investment objectives related to the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, concentrating on key areas such as advanced manufacturing, electronic information, biomedicine, materials, and energy. Through platforms like the National Science and Technology Major Project Achievement Transformation Fund, SDIC Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Science and Technology Achievement Transformation Fund, SDIC High-Tech (Shenzhen) Venture Capital Fund, SDIC (Ningbo) Science and Technology Achievement Transformation Fund, and SDIC (Guangdong) Science and Technology Achievement Transformation Fund, it aligns with China's regional development strategies, including the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. It continuously drives independent innovation in core technologies, achieving ongoing breakthroughs and fostering a robust ecosystem for investment in the transformation of scientific and technological achievements.

Guosheng Capital aims to become "the most influential comprehensive financial service provider in China's biotechnology industry." Its goal is to promote the establishment and strengthening of industrial chains within the biopharmaceutical sector. By building a professional investment system based on a "three-in-one" business development model of "equity + debt + comprehensive financial services," it conducts investment activities and project evaluations following the "two full, three effective" work paradigm ("full regional coverage, full lifecycle coverage, with analysis, with planning, with results"). It continuously enhances and refines the financial cooperation ecosystem for BioCity. Leveraging financial capital to cultivate industrial ecosystem advantages, Guosheng Capital supports the formation and growth of the biotechnology industry.