Oli Pharma Secures Tens of Millions in Pre-A Financing to Advance GMP Manufacturing Platform for Oligonucleotide APIs

VCBeat learned第一时间获悉，近日，Suzhou Olipharma Technology Co., Ltd.(Olipharma, hereinafter referred to as "Olipharma") announced the completion of a multi-million yuan Pre-A round of financing. This round of financing was led byMatrix PartnersExclusive investment, the funds raised will be mainly used forConstruction of GMP Production Platform for Nucleic Acid APIs, in order to better meet the growing demand for nucleic acid drug CDMO from pharmaceutical companies both in China and abroad.

Olipharma, founded in 2021, focuses on providing global pharmaceutical companies with "one-stop" CDMO services including nucleic acid drug discovery, laboratory R&D, process and analytical development, CMC services, API production, and drug registration.

In recent years, nucleic acid drugs have demonstrated tremendous potential for development and application in the fields of infectious diseases, personalized tumor treatment, and rare diseases. They are hailed as "the third wave of the global pharmaceutical industry," attracting numerous pharmaceutical companies to invest heavily while also gaining favor in the capital market. However, due to the high barriers in process development, production scale-up, and quality control, along with a reliance on extensive know-how, the demand for nucleic acid drug CDMOs is extremely urgent among pharmaceutical companies. Yet, constrained by the relatively short development time of the industry, the scarcity of talent, and the general lack of project experience, there are only a few nucleic acid drug CDMOs worldwide that can meet pharmaceutical-grade quality requirements—Olipharma is one of them.

The founding team of Olipharma comes fromOne of the earliest teams in China to engage in the development of nucleic acid drug production processes and CMC research., has been deeply engaged in the field of nucleic acid drugs for over a decade, possessing the most extensive experience in project development and product registration within the industry. Relying on the team's years of accumulated experience, the company has successfully built leading platforms in the industry, including a solid-phase nucleic acid synthesis platform, chemical modification and conjugation platform, process development and analysis platform, and a CMC pharmaceutical research platform. It has a mature system for process development and production workflows and has established in-depth collaborations with multiple pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology firms both domestically and internationally.

After the completion of this round of financing,OlipharmaWill Accelerate the Construction of GMP Production Platform and Expand the Talent Team, with complete facilities and flexible production capacity, to meet the process development needs of customers at different stages; in the future, the company will continue to increase its production capacity, initiate a global layout, and provide compliant, high-quality, reliable, and efficient services. This will help partners shorten the R&D cycle, reduce trial-and-error costs, accelerate product registration and market entry, and support the entire process of nucleic acid drug development from preclinical to commercial production, ultimately realizing the corporate vision of "bringing the benefits of nucleic acid drugs to the world."

Olipharma Founder Hai ZhaoStated: "As one of the first teams in China to initiate the development of small nucleic acid drug production processes and system certification, we are delighted to witness the vigorous growth of the nucleic acid drug industry in recent years. Since its establishment, Olipharma has been committed to becoming a dedicated player in the nucleic acid drug CDMO field. We will fully leverage our team's extensive experience accumulated over the years in the nucleic acid drug domain, empowering our partners with innovative service awareness and diversified service offerings, and jointly contributing to the long-term development of the industry."

Sun Linghao, Managing Director of Matrix PartnersSaid: "In recent years, with the rapid development of the nucleic acid drug industry, the process development of oligonucleotide solid-phase synthesis has increasingly gained attention from pharmaceutical companies and the capital market. The founding team of Olipharma has long been deeply involved in the field of nucleic acid drug processes. Not long after its establishment, the company began serving multiple small nucleic acid drug innovation enterprises, building an excellent reputation and delivery capability among clients. As investors, Matrix Partners looks forward to accompanying the company over the long term, jointly supporting the entire process of nucleic acid drugs from preclinical to commercial production."

Matrix Partners was founded in 2008 and is a leading venture capital firm that has long focused on early-stage and early growth-stage investments in the industry. It concentrates on investments in new technologies, hard tech, industrial digitalization, healthcare, frontier technologies, new consumer trends, and more. To date, it has invested in over 700 companies, including XPeng Motors, Li Auto, Futu Securities, Chehaoduo Group, Ele.me, Youzan, Ronbay Technology, XGIMI Technology, Momo, PingCAP, Peijia Medical, Career International, Chemclin Diagnostics, Beisen, Lexin, Zihaiguo, Chuanzhi Education, Muxi Integrated, Jane.ai, SemiDrive, Magna Robotics, CoreLink Semiconductor, Xinyao Hui, Xinhua Zhang, Bota Bio, and Aetivis Biopharmaceuticals.

Since its establishment nearly 14 years ago, Matrix Partners has built an investment team of more than 40 people, continuously investing heavily in China and focusing on early-stage opportunities. At the same time, we firmly believe in putting entrepreneurs first and have established a strong post-investment service system. A post-investment team of over 100 people across more than ten different functions empowers portfolio companies in all aspects such as strategy, operations, and talent, making every effort to provide value to entrepreneurs by only offering help and never causing trouble.