Fengkai Medical Completes Series B Financing to Deliver Affordable Solutions for Critically Ill Cardiac Patients

Recently, Fengkai Medical (hereinafter referred to as "Fengkai"), a platform company specializing in minimally invasive circulatory assist devices located in the Shanghai Zhangjiang International Medical Zone, has completed its Series B financing round. This round was led by Legend Capital, with participation from Chende Capital, SAIF Partners, Chengwei Partners, and Kaifeng Venture Capital. Existing investors Eli Lilly Asia Venture Fund and Kaitai Investment continued to increase their investments. Dianshi Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor for this financing round.

This round of financing will, on one hand, be used to actively advance clinical research for existing products, enabling the affordable transvalvular ventricular assist device to meet urgent clinical needs at the earliest opportunity; on the other hand, it will be allocated to team expansion and the accelerated parallel development of a product series, providing comprehensive solutions for intraoperative protection during high-risk PCI, treatment of cardiogenic shock, and related clinical applications.

The transvalvular ventricular assist device connects its inflow, positioned within the left ventricle, to its outflow in the ascending aorta via a transvalvular cannula, ensuring that the assisted blood flow direction during operation aligns with the native left ventricular ejection. By simultaneously reducing left ventricular preload and afterload while augmenting coronary blood flow, it operates on a more biomimetic principle and remains the only current technology capable of increasing coronary perfusion without increasing myocardial oxygen consumption.

Founder Mr. Tang Zhirong stated: "Transvalvular ventricular assist devices have previously seen extremely limited clinical application in China, long remaining a gap in the field. As a domestic pioneer in this area, the company will allocate sufficient resources to preclinical training to ensure the quality of the product's clinical research, thereby accumulating reliable evidence-based medical data."

Currently, China's academic community has not yet established a clear and unified definition for high-risk percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) procedures. However, factors that increase intraoperative risk can be primarily classified into three categories: (1) baseline patient health status, including advanced age, diabetes mellitus, and acute kidney injury; (2) coronary artery lesions, such as left main stenosis and bifurcation lesions; and (3) coexisting high-risk conditions, such as acute coronary syndrome, cardiogenic shock, and heart failure. It is estimated that high-risk PCI procedures currently account for 10% to 30% of the annual PCI volume in China. During PCI, the Impella device effectively increases cardiac output, reduces myocardial oxygen consumption and pulmonary artery wedge pressure, decreases myocardial infarct size, and promotes myocardial recovery, thereby exerting cardioprotective effects. Furthermore, through such intraoperative hemodynamic support, more patients previously deemed unsuitable for surgery can now undergo PCI, enabling more effective treatment.

After 2015, the indications for Impella products were further expanded, successively receiving Premarket Approval (PMA) for the treatment of cardiogenic shock complicating acute myocardial infarction, cardiogenic shock following cardiac surgery, right heart failure, and severe left ventricular failure. This has also propelled percutaneous mechanical circulatory support (pMCS) devices, represented by Impella, to become the most rapidly advancing research direction in the treatment of cardiogenic shock.

The expansion of clinical indications has driven a rapid increase in global sales of Impella. As of the end of 2020, Impella products had cumulatively treated over 170,000 patients worldwide. However, a substantial unmet clinical demand persists in China. According to data disclosed by Abiomed, the potential patient population for Impella in the United States reached 300,000 in 2018, with nearly 23,000 procedures performed, yielding a penetration rate of 8%. In the same year, China's potential patient pool was nearly 680,000, yet actual procedures totaled fewer than 6,000 (with the majority of patients undergoing intra-aortic balloon pump [IABP] therapy), resulting in a penetration rate of less than 1%. Upon market launch, ForQaly products will rapidly establish their commercial footprint and continue to advance technological innovation, delivering internationally leading therapeutic solutions to a broader population of cardiovascular patients.

Regarding this round of financing, Zhou Quan, Managing Director of Legend Capital, stated: “Ventricular assist, particularly interventional ventricular assist, holds tremendous market potential in China. Led by Mr. Tang, the seasoned management team has been dedicated to this field for nearly six years, and has now developed outstanding products that lead both domestically and internationally. We are delighted to partner with ForQaly Medical and will continue to work hand in hand with the company for the long term.”

Chende Capital stated: “As a life support device, the percutaneous ventricular assist system has already achieved tremendous clinical and commercial success abroad. However, due to its extremely high technical barriers and steep price, it currently remains a market gap in China. After years of dedicated effort, the team led by Mr. Tang has overcome multiple core technological challenges, achieving a breakthrough in China production of this product. Through independent innovation, they have significantly reduced costs, making it highly adaptable to conditions in China. Chende Capital has great confidence in ForQaly Medical's deep technological expertise and strategic product portfolio in the percutaneous ventricular assist field, and looks forward to partnering with the company to rapidly bring these highly promising products to market, thereby delivering substantial clinical and economic benefits to patients worldwide.”

Legend Capital is an independent professional venture capital firm under Legend Holdings Corporation, with its core business focused on early-stage venture capital and growth-stage expansion investments. Currently, the total assets under management of its USD and RMB funds exceed RMB 60 billion, primarily targeting innovation and growth opportunities in China. As of 2021, Legend Capital has invested in over 500 companies, among which more than 90 have successfully listed domestically or overseas, and over 70 have exited through mergers and acquisitions. With the vision "to become a most valuable, highly respected, and internationally influential investment firm," Legend Capital fosters corporate innovation and growth through capital and managerial support. It strives to play an active role in driving industrial advancement and social development, seeking to co-create promising ventures and share success with like-minded partners.

Founded in 2008, Lilly Asia Ventures (LAV) is a leading venture capital fund focused on investing in the life sciences and healthcare sectors, with offices in Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Silicon Valley, USA. LAV is committed to serving as a reliable partner for exceptional entrepreneurs seeking smart capital, and looks forward to collaborating with top-tier founders to co-create outstanding companies that combat diseases and improve human health through breakthrough products.

Chende Capital is an investment institution focused on innovative medical technologies and frontier biotechnology niches. Managed and operated by a professional team with deep expertise in the healthcare industry, it oversees multiple RMB and USD funds. Adhering to the investment philosophy of "Focus, Excellence, and Reputation," Chende Capital leverages its extensive industry resources and years of in-depth research and cultivation in the medical sector to promptly identify the latest global technological trends and seize investment opportunities arising from technological innovation. The firm is dedicated to identifying top-tier enterprises with the potential to become industry leaders. Through a collaborative and win-win investment methodology and a precise, pragmatic post-investment value-add system, Chende Capital works alongside entrepreneurs to co-build an industrial ecosystem, foster mutual growth, and generate optimal returns for investors.

SAIF Partners, founded in 2001, is a private equity firm that provides capital support to high-growth enterprises across the Asia-Pacific region. Its investment focus primarily spans consumer products and services, technology, media, telecommunications, financial services, healthcare, tourism, and manufacturing, with offices in China and India. SAIF Partners currently manages investment funds with total assets under management of nearly RMB 6 billion and USD 4 billion.

The CW Partner Fund focuses on early- to mid-stage investments in the medical and healthcare sector. The fund is committed to investing in innovative enterprises driven by core products, technologies, and market demand, while respecting the underlying logic of each project. Fund partners include CW Capital, the Shanghai Government Guidance Fund, the Putuo District Government Guidance Fund, Zhangjiang Hi-Tech, among others.

Kaifeng Venture Capital is a Sino-US dual-currency venture capital firm specializing in early-stage technology investments, championing a team culture built on equality, transparency, sharing, and innovation. Founded in 2009, the firm focuses primarily on the healthcare and IT hard-tech sectors. With assets under management exceeding RMB 5 billion, it has provided capital and resource support to over 100 outstanding teams and projects. Kaifeng Venture Capital has facilitated the successful public listings of more than ten high-tech enterprises, including Cytek (NASDAQ: CTKB), ConnoMed (NASDAQ: CNTB), Thrive (NASDAQ: EXAS), InnoLight Technology (300308), MEMSensing Microsystems (688286), Huaxing Zhiyuan (000008), and Olym Electronic (300585), among others. Simultaneously, it has empowered a wide array of companies such as Taimei Medical Technology, Genecast, Huake Precision, Maxphotonics, and C&W Technologies to stand out in their respective niche markets.