Leman Biotech Secures Nearly RMB 100 Million in Angel Funding Within Six Months of Inception to Advance AI-Driven Immune Metabolic Reprogramming for Next-Generation Cancer Immunotherapy

On January 18, Leman Biotech Co., Ltd. (referred to as "Leman"), a company focused on the development of novel tumor immunotherapy drugs based on immunometabolic reprogramming + artificial intelligence (AI), announced the completion of nearly 100 million yuan in angel round financing. This round of investment was led by TianTu Investment, with participation from FiveSource Capital and XtalPi. The proceeds will be used to accelerate preclinical research of its biologic macromolecule drugs based on immunometabolic reprogramming, advance the clinical trial progress of a new pipeline of metabolism-enhanced CAR-T cell therapy drugs, and expand the application scope of its self-developed immunometabolic reprogramming platform to empower the development of next-generation anti-tumor drugs across more immunotherapy fields.

Leman Biotech Co., Ltd. was founded in July 2021, with its founding team originating from the globally renowned technical institution, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland. Under the leadership of Professor Li Tang, the team has been deeply engaged in cutting-edge research in the field of cancer immunotherapy, particularly achieving a series of internationally top-tier research results in overcoming T-cell exhaustion. This work was selected as one of the top ten news stories of EPFL in 2021. From its inception, Leman Biotech focused on the longstanding bottleneck issue of T-cell exhaustion, which significantly constrains the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy, especially for solid tumors. Based on two latest research achievements from EPFL, the team developed the world's first Meta 10 immune metabolic reprogramming technology, establishing a proprietary technology platform for the discovery, development, and production of biologic macromolecule drugs and novel immune cell therapies. Currently, Leman Biotech has developed multiple R&D pipelines with significant market potential and is steadily advancing towards clinical research.

T Cell Exhaustion is a Major Challenge Limiting the Effectiveness of Various Tumor Immunotherapies. Therefore, how to reinvigorate terminally exhausted T cells has become a key focus in the field of tumor immunotherapy research. Based on the Meta 10 metabolic reprogramming technology platform, Leman Biotech Co., Ltd. has developed a novel metabolism-enhanced tumor immunotherapy capable of reversing immune cell exhaustion and inducing stem-like immune memory. By enhancing oxidative phosphorylation metabolism in tumor-specific terminally exhausted T cells, this therapy can reactivate terminally exhausted T cells, significantly improving the response rate and efficacy of various tumor immunotherapies. Currently, this therapy has demonstrated significant therapeutic effects and great application potential in multiple animal models of mouse and human tumors. It successfully reverses the exhaustion state of terminally exhausted T cells, markedly enhances the anti-tumor potential of T cells, achieves complete tumor eradication in multiple solid tumor animal models, and induces an immune memory effect, bringing new hope for achieving clinical cure of tumors.

Schematic Diagram of the Principle of Meta10 Metabolic Reprogramming Technology Platform Significantly Enhancing Various Tumor Immunotherapies

After this round of financing, Leman Biotech will actively promote two representative candidate drugs into preclinical and clinical research, with a focus on clinical studies for multiple solid tumors such as melanoma, colon cancer, and breast cancer. Meanwhile, Leman Biotech has entered into an in-depth strategic partnership with XtalPi, a leader in AI-driven drug discovery. The collaboration will leverage Leman Biotech's technological advantages in immunometabolism and cell therapy, as well as XtalPi’s industry-leading expertise in AI and high-precision computational chemistry, to achieve precise prediction and efficient rational design of large biomolecular complex structures. Together, they aim to develop the next-generation AI-based super immunometabolism modulator R&D platform for creating a series of immunomodulators with higher bioactivity specificity, fewer side effects, and better efficacy, further expanding new frontiers in immunotherapy. Additionally, Leman Biotech will actively expand the application scope of its immunometabolic reprogramming platform across key areas of tumor immunotherapy, including TILs, neoantigen cancer vaccines, and immune checkpoint antibodies, offering solutions to address T-cell exhaustion for partner companies. Building on its unique Meta 10 immunometabolic reprogramming technology and combining cutting-edge AI pharmaceutical and computational methods, Leman Biotech aims to establish broad collaborations with pharmaceutical enterprises in the industry, bringing new breakthroughs to the field of cancer immunotherapy.

Professor Tang Li, co-founder and chairman of Leman Biotech Co., Ltd, stated: "We are honored to have the support of our investors and strategic partners. Starting from the unique perspective of immunometabolic reprogramming, Leman has developed the core technology Meta 10, achieving rapid breakthroughs in a short period of time. This further strengthens our belief in the tremendous potential of Meta 10 in activating terminally exhausted T cells and significantly enhancing the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy. Moving forward, we will further expand our R&D team, advance the progress of our main pipelines and technology platforms, accelerate the development and reserve of new technologies, and broaden the application scope of our technology platform. We will actively collaborate with innovative pharmaceutical companies in the field of cancer treatment to widely apply this technology to improve the response rate and efficacy of cancer immunotherapy drugs, aiming to benefit a large number of cancer patients as soon as possible."

Wei Guoxing, Partner of TianTu Investment, stated: "Leman Biotech has achieved cutting-edge results on an international scale in the field of novel cancer immunotherapy drug research and development, aligning with the developmental needs of China's strategic emerging industries. We are delighted to see such an outstanding innovative biotech company establish itself in Shenzhen. The team has a clear and rational development plan along with strong execution capabilities. Their core technology is highly differentiated and technically advanced, leading to a series of remarkable interim achievements shortly after the company’s founding, demonstrating the qualities of a rapidly growing biopharmaceutical enterprise. We highly anticipate that Leman Biotech, through its powerful collaboration with XtalPi, will accelerate the development of next-generation AI-driven innovative cancer therapeutics, addressing the urgent clinical needs for solid tumor treatments and bringing hope to cancer patients worldwide."

Jing Xutian, Managing Director of 5Y Capital, stated: "Leman Biotech's pipeline layout is clear and well-positioned. It can not only rapidly advance clinical research to achieve breakthroughs in therapeutic effects but also proceed steadily to enhance the company's risk resistance. Additionally, it has a reserve of backup technology pipelines based on AI, ensuring development potential and significant growth opportunities. Leman Biotech's Meta10 technology platform has been experimentally validated as an effective solution to the bottleneck issue of T-cell terminal exhaustion, filling a gap in this field and demonstrating internationally leading advantages. This platform holds immense application potential and collaboration opportunities, both in its proprietary pipeline development and in broadly empowering innovative pharmaceutical companies with tumor immunotherapy."

Wen Shuhao, Chairman of XtalPi, stated: "The biologics developed by Leman Biotech based on immune-metabolic reprogramming technology have made breakthrough progress in the field of cancer immunotherapy, especially in the treatment of solid tumors. We are honored to collaborate with a team possessing key core technologies, leveraging XtalPi's quantum physics and AI technology to deepen our cooperation with Leman Biotech. We aim to design and optimize next-generation super immune-metabolic modulators, accelerate the engineering transformation of biologics, and provide solutions to further enhance the therapeutic potential of related biologics. We believe this new field holds limitless possibilities."

Leman Biotech Co., Ltd. was founded in July 2021, focusing on the research, development, production, and commercialization of novel cancer immunotherapy drugs. Based on the innovative Meta10 immunometabolic reprogramming technology, the company has established an intellectual property-protected platform for immunometabolic reprogramming biologics, a metabolism-enhanced immune cell therapy platform, and an AI computation-based super immunometabolism modulator R&D platform. Leman Biotech has developed a distinctive pipeline of products with significant differentiation, strong global competitiveness, and a well-structured iterative upgrade mechanism. Among them, the biologics have demonstrated the ability to significantly enhance various immunotherapies, including immune cell therapy, immune checkpoint inhibitors, and immune agonists. The new metabolism-enhanced immune cell therapy technology has shown remarkable therapeutic effects in multiple mouse solid tumor models, lung cancer metastasis models, and animal models of human tumors, holding promise as an effective drug for curing solid tumors. Meanwhile, the company has entered into an in-depth strategic partnership with XtalPi, an AI pharmaceutical company, to develop an AI computation-based super immunometabolism modulator R&D platform.

Leman Biotech, originating from Switzerland, is dedicated to breaking through the bottleneck challenges of current tumor immunotherapy, improving the response rate and efficacy of tumor immunotherapy, and tirelessly striving to achieve the ultimate goal of curing cancer. Currently, the company is developing rapidly and is actively recruiting talented individuals from all over the world, looking forward to more like-minded people joining!

Founded in 2002, Tiantu Investment is one of the earliest professional institutions in China to engage in equity investment. It has offices in Shenzhen, Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong, with a professional investment team of over 50 people. The Tiantu VC team was established in 2016 and currently manages three VC funds, one angel fund, and one US dollar fund, with a total managed scale exceeding 4 billion RMB. After five years of practice, it has formed a relatively mature investment decision-making system and invested in more than 100 early-stage projects.

5Y Capital, currently managing dual-currency funds in both USD and RMB with a scale of approximately 32 billion RMB. 5Y Capital seeks, supports, and motivates solitary entrepreneurs, providing them with support ranging from spiritual to all aspects of operations. We believe that if the world starts to believe in the seemingly crazy you that others see, it will open up new horizons. Portfolio companies include Ctrip (NASDAQ:CTRP), JOYY Inc. (NASDAQ:YY), Xiaomi Corporation (HK:01810), Kingsoft Office (STAR Market:688111), Agora (NASDAQ:API), XPeng Inc. (NYSE:XPEV), Kuaishou Technology (HKEX:1024), WeDoctor Group, SenseTime, Horizon Robotics, Pony.ai, and more.

XtalPi is a drug research and development company empowered by quantum physics and artificial intelligence. By enhancing the speed, scale, innovation, and success rate of drug R&D, XtalPi is committed to revolutionizing the pharmaceutical industry. As a company based in China and the U.S. while serving the global market, XtalPi consistently explores optimal solutions to fully leverage cutting-edge R&D and computational resources, maximizing the satisfaction of clients and partners. XtalPi’s intelligent drug discovery platform integrates cloud-based supercomputing digital R&D tools with advanced experimental capabilities, forming a highly precise predictive system where predictions and targeted experiments verify and guide each other. As one of the pioneering AI-driven drug discovery companies globally, XtalPi has established a comprehensive iterative R&D process that tightly integrates quantum-physics-powered dry labs with state-of-the-art wet labs, challenging the efficiency bottlenecks of traditional R&D and enabling breakthroughs in both the speed and scale of innovative drug discovery.