Signet Therapeutics Secures Tens of Millions in Angel++ Round Led by Songhe Capital to Advance AI-Driven Cancer Drug Pipeline

Recently, Signet Therapeutics (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Signet"), an innovative targeted cancer drug research and development company based on disease models + AI, announced that it has completed an angel++ round of financing worth tens of millions of yuan from Songhe Capital. It is reported that this round of financing is the third round completed by the company within a year.

It is reported that the proceeds of this round will be used to accelerate the rapid advancement of three innovative targeted drug pipelines into clinical trials, promote the expansion and application of the existing disease model platform, and strengthen the construction of its own R&D team to enhance independent innovation capabilities.

Signet Therapeutics was founded at the end of 2020. The founding team comes from Harvard University's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, a world-leading research hospital that integrates "basic translational research-clinical trials-cancer treatment" and has approximately 1,100 ongoing clinical trials. The Signet Therapeutics team has developed unique disease models based on the genomic characteristics of cancer patients and has established an in-depth strategic partnership with XtalPi, a pharmaceutical biotechnology company leveraging artificial intelligence (AI). This collaboration is rapidly advancing three proprietary R&D pipelines for targeted therapies into clinical stages. At the same time, Signet Therapeutics is expanding its disease model platform to more applications in new drug development, empowering more innovative pharmaceutical companies in areas such as pharmacodynamics evaluation and novel target discovery.

SIGNET's disease model has shown initial success in the development of targeted drugs for gastric cancer. The team will extend the application of this technology to the establishment of disease models for other types of cancers, such as colorectal cancer, lung cancer, and breast cancer, bringing a revolutionary improvement to pharmacodynamics evaluation. This will empower pharmaceutical companies to discover genuine and promising new targets, spurring the development of more targeted drugs entering the R&D pipeline.

Dr. Haisheng Zhang, founder and CEO of Signet Therapeutics, stated"Thank you very much for the support and trust from our investors. With their backing, SIGNET has the continuous resources to discover new targets and develop novel drugs based on that. SIGNET starts by addressing unmet clinical needs of diseases, building disease models, and recapitulating the disease process to identify the most critical targets involved in the onset and progression of the disease. These targets serve as the starting point for developing targeted therapies, rather than exploring known popular targets for potential indications. We also hope to expand the application scope of our disease model platform to assist more pharmaceutical companies in pursuing original innovation and breakthroughs. The innovation of China's biopharmaceutical industry requires the collective efforts of a group of companies with an innovative mindset."

Luo Fei, founding partner of Pinehurst Capital, said"Pinehurst Capital focuses on investing in enterprises with an innovative spirit. SIGNET has achieved original innovation and breakthroughs in targeted drugs for diffuse gastric cancer, establishing its leadership position in this field. The three first-in-class pipelines currently under research by the Signet team all originate from vast unmet clinical needs, focusing on the disease itself without following popular targets. They fully leverage their deep insights into biology and diseases and strongly integrate with industry-leading AI drug discovery technology to drive rapid progress in pipeline development. This R&D model will effectively promote the innovation and development of China's pharmaceuticals industry. We believe this is an innovative biopharmaceutical company with efficient execution and foresight. We look forward to SIGNET’s continued progress and becoming a company with international influence."

Signet Therapeutics is an innovative targeted cancer drug research and development company based on disease models. Signet Therapeutics was founded at the end of 2020, initially established on the Harvard University campus. Its core team consists of outstanding talents from academia, such as Harvard University, MIT, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, as well as the pharmaceutical industry. The company's headquarters is located in Shenzhen, with a branch in Boston, USA. Signet not only phonetically translates "Signet" but also upholds the vision of "Hopeful Minds, Seeking Truth through Investigation." Through the professional, cutting-edge, and relentless efforts of its team, the company aims to bring hope to cancer patients currently without treatment options and is committed to tirelessly transforming highly lethal malignant cancers into chronic diseases via precision-targeted therapies. The company currently has more than 1,200 square meters of office and R&D space, and its R&D team is rapidly expanding.

Pinehurst Capital (Pinehurst Venture Capital Co., Ltd.), established in 1996 by venture capitalists Wei Li and Fei Luo, is one of the longest-standing venture capital institutions in China, with a core team boasting over 20 years of experience in technology investment.

Pinehurst Capital has rich investment experience in multiple high-tech fields such as the digital economy, new materials, and biomedicine. It consistently focuses on innovative technologies and emphasizes the construction of technology platforms. By leveraging professional expertise to discover future stars and utilizing capital operation experience to assist corporate growth, Pinehurst Capital has acted as the angel investor for companies like BGI, Kuang-Chi Technologies, Appotronics, BMF Materials, Dynanonic, and Realin New Materials. It has also supported SenseTime as an early investor, leading China into the artificial intelligence era.

Currently, the asset management scale of PineWood Capital exceeds 18 billion yuan, with nearly 400 investment projects, half of which are early-stage technology projects. 57 projects have exited through IPO or acquisition by listed companies. As of October 2021, nine companies backed by PineWood Capital have gone public on the STAR Market.