Brilliant ImmunoTech Completes B+ Financing Round, Advancing Its Innovative Cell Therapy Pipeline

VCBeat learned第一时间 that on July 18, 2022, Huaxia Yingtai(Beijing)Biotechnology Co., Ltd. ("Huaxia Yingtai" or "the Company") completed its B+ round of financing. This round of financing was led by Huakong Fund, with continued support from existing shareholders Hanking Capital and Hetang Ventures.

In September 2021, Huaxia Yingtai (Beijing) Biotechnology Co., Ltd. completed its Series B financing round led by Huachuang Capital, with participation from Vertex Ventures, Honyi Capital, and Daoyuan Capital. Despite the capital market's downturn, Huaxia Yingtai successfully completed over 300 million yuan in Series B and Series B+ financing rounds, reflecting the capital market's strong recognition of the company's prospects. Xingyuan Zhicheng served as the exclusive financial advisor for both transactions.

Huaxia Yingtai (Beijing) Biotechnology Co., Ltd. was co-founded in March 2018 by Professor Lin Xin, a globally renowned immunologist, and Dr. Zhao Xueqiang, who has extensive experience in the scientific research and translation of tumor immunology. The company focuses on the development and industrialization of gene-edited T-cell immunotherapy products, aiming to address unmet clinical needs such as advanced cancer.Based on its globally pioneering STAR-T technology platform, enTCR-T technology platform, and a mature process development and analytical quality control industrialization platform, the company has developed a rich product pipeline targeting blood tumors, solid tumors, viral infections, and other diseases. The company has recently made remarkable progress in product development, talent building, and site expansion, gradually evolving into a leading innovative cell therapy enterprise with a global perspective.

Huaxia Yingtai's globally pioneering STAR-T platform has obtained confirmed clinical efficacy data for hematological tumors and is accelerating the conduct of registrational clinical trials.In May 2022, the single-target CD19 STAR-T published long-term follow-up clinical data in the internationally renowned hematology journal, "American Journal of Hematology." In June 2022, the double-target CD19/CD20 STAR-T, which had the fastest development progress, completed its IND application.At the same time, after nearly four years of technological iteration, the fourth-generation STAR-T platform can effectively avoid mismatch, with good cell phenotype, strong functionality, and better solid tumor infiltration. It is expected to make a qualitative leap in solid tumor treatment and patient accessibility.

STAR-T Preclinical Data for Solid Tumors Published in March 2021 in a Sub-Journal of "Science"; Exploratory Clinical Trials for Several Solid Tumors Such as Liver Cancer, Pancreatic Cancer, and Digestive System Tumors Have Now Been Initiated. In Addition, the Exploratory Clinical Research Data for CMV-Specific TCR-T, Which Is at the Leading Stage of the Product Pipeline, Was Presented in November 2021 at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH).The company is also advancing the optimization, upgrade, and clinical registration of the enTCR-T platform for viral infections and universal products.

At the same time, Huaxia Yingtai(Beijing)Biotechnology Co., Ltd. has been gradually strengthening talent team building at all levels since last year, and has built a world-class industrialization team. Currently, the company's team size exceeds one hundred people.Recently, several experienced senior executives from the industry have joined, including CEO Dr. James Pan, CTO Dr. Lin Lin, Director of Pharmacology and Toxicology Dr. Xiaoyan Yuan, among others. The management team's strength has been greatly enhanced.

In addition, the company has completed a nearly 5,000-square-meter high-standard R&D and GMP-level cell preparation center in Zhongguancun Life Science Park, Changping, Beijing, establishing a comprehensive process development and analytical quality control system.By the end of 2021, the clinical development department moved to new office space located in Building B of the Global Trade Center in Chaoyang District, Beijing, to support the construction of the clinical team and the development of business operations. Over the past year, the company has also received a series of honors, including the Excellent and Winning Project Award in the Ministry of Science and Technology's "National Disruptive Technology Innovation Competition," the HICOOL Entrepreneurship Competition, the Top 100 Innovative Pharmaceutical Enterprises in China in 2021, a "Specialized, Refined, Unique, and Innovative" enterprise in Beijing, and a Beijing-based corporate scientific research and development institution.

CEO of Huaxia Yingtai(Beijing)Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Dr. Guohua PanStated: "We are very grateful for the support and trust from both new and existing investors in Huaxia Yingtai. Currently, the global cell therapy field is booming with drug development. As a pioneer and leader in innovative cellular immunotherapy products, Huaxia Yingtai consistently focuses on cutting-edge technologies and innovative development, concentrating on building a forward-looking and differentiated R&D pipeline. We hope to join hands with investors and partners to achieve the development goal of 'In China, helping patients globally' as soon as possible, and work together to make Huaxia Yingtai a globally leading innovator in cell therapy!"

Dr. Xueqiang Zhao, Co-founder of Huaxia Yingtai(Beijing)Biotechnology Co., Ltd.Stated: "The era of differentiated competition in innovative drugs has arrived. Companies that are rooted in China, possess a global perspective, have an internationally top-tier research and development team, self-innovative platform-based technical products, and support from top clinical teams to rapidly translate product applications will lead the direction of CGT new drug development. Over the past few years, our team has been united in advancing the development of innovative cell therapy products and platform construction, achieving significant progress. Our first dual-target candidate product for hematological tumors has completed its IND application. At the same time, we are focusing on key areas such as new target applications and solid tumor directions, with very promising prospects for breakthroughs. We deeply thank both our existing and new shareholders, especially Hanco Capital and Hotang Ventures, for their continued support of Huaxia Yingtai(Beijing)Biotechnology Co., Ltd.'s development. We will remain true to our original aspirations, accelerate the clinical advancement of safe and efficient innovative cell therapy drugs, bring good news to patients as soon as possible, and create value for our shareholders."

The lead investor of this round, Dr. Zhang Yang, Chairman of Huakong InvestmentStated: "We are highly honored to participate in Huaxia Yingtai's Series B+ financing round. The global cell therapy industry is currently in an early stage of vigorous development, and Huaxia Yingtai, as an outstanding company with original, differentiated, and proprietary intellectual property rights in the foundational technology platform for cell therapy, holds significant investment value. Huaxia Yingtai is a pioneer in innovative cell therapy technologies worldwide, having established a rich and competitively differentiated product pipeline primarily focused on solid tumor treatments. The company’s top-tier management team—comprising founder Professor Lin Xin, CEO Dr. Pan Guohua, and co-founder Dr. Zhao Xueqiang—possesses years of foundational technical research experience and extensive industry expertise, consistently practicing Tsinghua University’s motto of 'Actions Speak Louder Than Words, and Great Virtue Bears All.' Their execution capabilities are exceptionally strong. We firmly believe that in the near future, Huaxia Yingtai has the potential to become a global leader in cell therapy technologies and China's version of Genentech. We have great confidence in Huaxia Yingtai’s technological reserves and product planning within the cell therapy sector, and we wish their cell therapy products can be brought to market soon to benefit patients."

Mr. Xiong Weiming, Partner of Huachuang Capital, the Lead Investor of Series B FinancingStated: "In the middle of last year, Huachuang Capital led the B-round financing of Huaxia Yingtai (Beijing) Biotechnology Co., Ltd. Over the past year, we have witnessed the rapid development of Huaxia Yingtai. Huaxia Yingtai has gathered a group of outstanding scientists and industry elites, focusing on the development and industrialization of innovative cell therapy technologies, establishing a solid, differentiated, and systematic technology and platform advantage. We firmly believe that as the 'differentiated competition era' of innovative drugs approaches, biotech companies with innovative platform-type technical products will become scarce resources, and Huaxia Yingtai is set to achieve great success. We are very optimistic about the long-term development of Huaxia Yingtai and will provide comprehensive support and assistance for the company's growth together with both new and existing shareholders."

Fu Jia, Managing Director of XY CapitalHuaxia Yingtai(Beijing)Biotechnology Co., Ltd. stated: "Huaxia Yingtai persists in fundamental structural innovation, with the potential to achieve a breakthrough in solid tumors. Over the past six months, the company has continuously strengthened the STAR-T platform, developed universal TCR-T, and welcomed a CEO with global BD and operational experience. We believe that Huaxia Yingtai will lead China's cell drug innovation onto the global stage in the future."Dr. Jiabao Wang, Senior Vice President of XYLinkStated: "Huaxia Yingtai(Beijing)Biotechnology Co., Ltd. remains steadfast in its commitment to staying at the forefront of global innovation in cell-based drug discovery, continuously validating through robust data. With the team further strengthened, we firmly believe that the company will achieve even more outstanding results in the next phase."

Huaxia Yingtai(Beijing)Biotechnology Co., Ltd. is an innovative drug research and development enterprise focusing on the field of cellular immunotherapy. Starting from unmet medical needs, it develops and commercializes products for various diseases. The company was founded in March 2018 by a renowned immunologist. It owns two unique technology platforms, STAR-T and enTCR-T, as well as an industrialized platform for mature process development and quality control. Huaxia Yingtai has initiated multiple "First-in-Human" clinical studies in collaboration with several top-tier hospitals in China, achieving positive clinical safety and efficacy data. The IND for its first candidate product has been submitted to the CDE and accepted. The company also boasts a world-class international team whose members have extensive experience in early-stage research, pharmacology and toxicology, clinical development, and business development.

Huakong Investment was founded in 2007 and manages a series of over 20 sub-funds, including VC funds, PE funds, industrial funds, M&A funds, overseas funds, and special funds, which invest in different stages and specialized fields. Currently, it manages over tens of billions of yuan in assets. The fund has a high-quality investment team with diverse professional backgrounds, specializing in private equity investment, fund management, securities investment, strategic management, and industry research. The fund focuses on investing in leading enterprises within niche industries, with particular attention to hard technology sectors such as biotechnology, advanced manufacturing, carbon neutrality, and information technology.

Founded in 2006, China Growth Capital focuses on early-stage investments in enterprise software, cutting-edge technology, life sciences, and consumer upgrading. It leverages deep resources and experience to assist its portfolio companies with strategic planning, business expansion, and team building. Currently, China Growth Capital manages combined RMB and USD funds totaling 8 billion RMB, with investment scopes covering from angel rounds to Series C, and investment amounts ranging from millions to hundreds of millions of RMB. Representative life science investments include: HuaKe Precision, Singleron Biotechnologies, Forbest Biotech, BrightPath BioMedicine, InserBio, West Sea Biopharma, Innove BioPharma, Guangwei Pharmaceuticals, and Sunshine Anjin.

StartPointAdvisors is a financial advisory firm specializing in the healthcare industry. Founded in 2020, the company’s team consists of professionals from well-known institutions within the industry, bringing extensive experience to their practice. The firm currently has offices in Beijing, Suzhou, and Guangzhou. Since its establishment, StartPointAdvisors has achieved comprehensive coverage of the healthcare sector and has earned an excellent reputation and track record within the industry, positioning itself as one of the most representative emerging investment banks in China’s healthcare field.