Genevector Secures Tens of Millions in Pre-A Financing to Advance AAV Gene Therapy Pipeline

VCBeat (WeChat: vcbeat) learned第一时间that Chengdu Jinweike Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Jinweike, Genevector) has successfully completed a Pre-A round of financing worth tens of millions of RMB.This round of financing was jointly invested by Ruijing Investment, Yingke Capital, East Lake High-tech, Ming Capital, and Sichuan Huisu. The funds will be used to advance the company's pipeline of IND applications.

Jinweike Biotechnology is a company dedicated to the research and development of new AAV gene therapies for ophthalmic diseases, neuromuscular diseases, and genetic metabolic disorders. Founder Academician Yuquan Wei has over 20 years of experience in gene therapy research, with extensive expertise in fundamental research and translational applications; co-founder Researcher Yang Yang worked with Professor James M. Wilson's team at the University of Pennsylvania on AAV gene therapy research and has been deeply involved in the field for nearly a decade.

In the future, Jinweike Biotechnology will accelerate the IND process of its pipeline to enter clinical trials, enabling more patients to access gene therapy drugs produced in China.

Relevant investment institutions stated that gene therapy is one of the most cutting-edge fields in the biopharmaceutical industry and has become a key focus for capital investment. Jinweike Biotechnology possesses a complete AAV gene therapy R&D platform and a rich pipeline of AAV gene therapy drugs. Its research capabilities in gene therapy drugs and AAV preparation technology are at a leading level in China.

Starting from the needs of patients has always been the original intention adhered to by Jinweike Biotechnology.

Jinweike Biotechnology began operations in April 2020 at a 3,000-square-meter AAV new drug R&D platform, including a GMP-grade AAV production workshop, plasmid production workshop, quality research platform, and drug development platform. This has enabled a complete AAV gene therapy technology chain, covering AAV drug design, drug feasibility studies, pilot production, and quality research.

Jinweike Biotechnology has independently developed a scalable and cost-controllable AAV production and chromatography purification process. The multiple product pipelines under research, related to ophthalmology and systemic administration, have all been well advanced.

AAV Gene Therapy New Drug R&D Platform, Phase 1 of the Three Medical Innovation Center, Wenjiang District

In order to realize the vision of making treatment simpler and life better, Jinweike Biotechnology always adheres to creating gene therapies that are both effective and affordable. Currently, the company has multiple products in its pipeline, with a focus on ophthalmic diseases, neuromuscular disorders, and inherited metabolic diseases. Among them, JWK001 for treating wet age-related macular degeneration (wAMD) and JWK002 for X-linked retinoschisis (XLRS) are the leading candidates, showing the fastest progress. They will soon enter the preclinical safety evaluation stage, paving the way for IND applications.

Chengdu Jinweike Biotechnology Co., Ltd. Pipeline

The first-line therapy for wet age-related macular degeneration (wAMD) is targeted treatment with intravitreal anti-VEGF drugs, but this therapy has issues such as frequent intravitreal injections and poor long-term prognosis. The gene therapy drug JWK001, developed by Chengdu Jinweike Biotechnology Co., Ltd., utilizes AAV to deliver a newly designed VEGF-neutralizing protein expression sequence to retinal cells. Through continuous high-level expression of the VEGF-neutralizing protein, it efficiently binds vascular growth factors, thereby inhibiting new blood vessel formation, achieving a single treatment that is effective for life.

Compared with RGX-314, the pipeline in the clinical Phase I/IIa stage developed by REGENXBIO, JWK001 can achieve higher in vivo expression levels with fewer injection doses (1e11). This project will enter the clinical application stage at the end of this year, and clinical trials are expected to begin in 2023.

JWK002 is a gene therapy drug targeting X-linked juvenile retinoschisis (XLRS), utilizing AAV to deliver the Retinoschisin (RS1) gene to retinal cells. By specifically expressing the RS1 gene in photoreceptor cells, it restores the retinal structure and function in patients with XLRS. JWK002 can achieve long-term expression after a single subretinal injection, offering the potential for an effective treatment for these patients. The project is expected to enter clinical application in 2023.

Professor Yuquan Wei, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Founder and Chairman of Jinweike Biotechnology, Former Vice President of Sichuan University, currently serves as the Director of the Clinical Oncology Center at West China Hospital and the Director of the State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy. He has long been engaged in fundamental research, application development, and clinical practice in tumor biotherapy, making significant contributions to the field. His research includes the impact of stromal cells, such as immune cells, fibroblasts, and vascular endothelial cells, within the tumor microenvironment on tumor growth, as well as the regulatory effects of tumor cell metabolites on immune cells. He has achieved a series of innovative research results in the basic research and translational application of biopharmaceuticals, including gene drugs and vaccines, as well as small molecule targeted drugs. He has excelled in industry-university-research collaboration and technology transfer, leading his team in developing biopharmaceuticals and small molecule targeted drugs that have been transferred to multiple pharmaceutical companies in China and are currently under joint development.

Dr. Yang Yang, founder and CEO of Jinweike Biotechnology, doctoral supervisor, has worked in the team of Professor James M. Wilson, a gene therapy expert at the University of Pennsylvania, focusing on AAV gene therapy research. He has published multiple AAV research papers in Nature Biotechnology, Science Advances, and Blood, filed several domestic and international invention patents, and has been deeply engaged in the field for nearly 10 years.

The core management team of Jinweike Biotechnology comes from well-known pharmaceutical companies, research institutions, and universities in China, including scientists deeply engaged in research fields as well as elites from the industry and business circles. The core technical team’s expertise covers upstream technology for product development, pilot-scale process research, quality research, and GMP production, endowing Jinweike with an integrated R&D capability ranging from product design and development, process and formulation development, to quality standard research.

To date, among the 16 gene therapy products approved worldwide, three are AAV gene therapy products. In 2012, the EU approved Glybera®, the world's first AAV gene therapy product, for the treatment of lipoprotein lipase (LPL) deficiency. In December 2017, the FDA approved Luxturna®, an ophthalmic gene therapy for treating Leber’s congenital amaurosis and other eye diseases caused by RPE65 gene mutations, becoming the first true gene therapy in the U.S. market and marking the official arrival of the gene therapy era. A year and a half later, Novartis’ spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) gene therapy, Zolgensma®, also received approval.

AAV Gene Therapy Shows Broad Development Prospects. The successful financing of Jinweike Biotechnology, along with the continuous accumulation of technology and capital, will accelerate its pipeline into clinical trials. Based on its robust technical platform, while collaborating with leading industry partners domestically and internationally to integrate resources and continuously improve the production and R&D chain, the company aims to achieve drug accessibility, thereby benefiting a wide range of patients. Jinweike Biotechnology is a promising stock that both clinical needs and the capital market can look forward to.

Ruijing Investment Director Yuan Hailong said:"Gene therapy is the future direction of the pharmaceutical industry, and AAV gene therapy is a clinically validated viral vector gene therapy technology. Several AAV drugs have already been launched overseas, and AAV gene therapy has a relatively high success rate in development compared to other viral vector gene therapy technologies. The founding team of Chengdu Jinweike Biotechnology Co., Ltd. has mastered the core production process of AAV, and their products can effectively address unmet clinical needs in fields such as ophthalmology, neuromuscular disorders, and inherited metabolic diseases. The progress of their products is at the leading edge both domestically and internationally. We are highly anticipating that Jinweike's products will benefit a wide range of patients as soon as possible."

Ruijing Investment focuses on early-stage equity investments in innovative medical devices and biotechnology. Ruijing Investment currently manages multiple RMB funds, with investors including industrial capital, family offices, and asset management companies.