Chineo Therapeutics Secures Hundreds of Millions RMB in Pre-B Financing to Advance 'Supercharged TIL' Cell Therapy Through IND Submission

VCBeat has learned at the earliest opportunity that a biotechnology company focused on researching tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy—Beijing Chineo Medical Technology Co., Ltd. announced the completion of its hundred-million-yuan Pre-B financing round,Led by Fenglin Capital. The funding will be used to support Chineo’s “Supercharged TIL” cell therapy product in completing its Investigational New Drug (IND) application filing. It is reported that Chineo previously secured Series A+ financing from investors including the CCB Medical Growth Fund.

Immunotherapy has become a major trend in cancer treatment. Although CAR-T therapy has shown remarkable success in the field of hematologic malignancies, it often yields suboptimal outcomes for solid tumors, which account for more than 90% of cancer cases. The limited efficacy of many international immunotherapies, applicable only to a small subset of patients, is primarily attributed to the heterogeneity of solid tumors and the characteristics of their microenvironment.

Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocyte (TIL) Therapy: The Optimal Solution to Address Tumor Heterogeneity and a New Hope for Conquering Solid TumorsLovance’s TIL therapy has received Breakthrough Therapy designation from the U.S. FDA, signaling that TIL is poised to become the next generation of cell therapy drugs following CAR-T.

However, current TIL therapy still faces numerous challenges related to the tumor microenvironment, cell expansion processes, manufacturing timelines, and costs. Furthermore, TIL therapy has inherent limitations—specifically, its reliance on surgically resected tissue as the source of cellular material—which is often impractical for the vast majority of patients with advanced-stage disease.

Chineo’s core R&D team comprises top-tier scientists and clinical research experts from the industry, with years of in-depth expertise in innovative immune cell therapies such as TIL and neoantigen-based treatments. Chineo’s independently developed “Supercharged TIL” immune cell therapy represents a significant advancement that surpasses current international frontiers in TIL and CAR-T technologies. Leveraging proprietary technologies including “enhanced receptors” and “expansion factors,” this approach genetically engineers TIL cells to comprehensively address key challenges associated with solid tumors, such as tumor heterogeneity and the microenvironment, as well as issues related to cell expansion processes, manufacturing timelines, and costs.

In addition, Chineo’s fourth-generation product, “Super cTIL,” requires only the collection of TIL cells from peripheral blood, breaking through the limitations of traditional TIL therapy that relies on surgical tissue sampling. This breakthrough makes TIL therapy accessible to nearly everyone, significantly expanding the eligible patient population.

It is reported that Beijing Chineo Medical is the only company in China with human clinical study data on innovative TIL therapy. The company’s earlier proof-of-concept (POC) clinical study data on “supercharged TIL” therapy for advanced solid tumors refractory to conventional treatments have already demonstrated encouraging results.

Furthermore, a new round of clinical trials on super-potent TILs for various solid tumor indications, or even tumor-agnostic applications, is currently underway, led by renowned researchers including Professor Li Jin from Shanghai East Hospital, Professor Guo Jun from Beijing Cancer Hospital, Professor Zhao Haitao from Peking Union Medical College Hospital, and Professor Zhang Yi from the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University.

Chineo has been honored with awards such as the Third Prize in the Beijing Division of the 2019 China Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition (among 99 outstanding enterprises nationwide) and the Second Prize on the Innovation List at the 4th World Life Science Conference. The company was also selected for the Top 10 in the 2020 Zhongguancun Frontier Technology Innovation Competition and included in the “Star List – Top 50 Most Innovative Chinese Biopharmaceutical Enterprises of 2020.” Chineo has successively undertaken key national R&D projects sponsored by the Ministry of Science and Technology, as well as projects related to “Disruptive Innovation” in Beijing.

Beijing Fenglin Investment Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Fenglin Capital”) adheres to the corporate strategy of “focusing on value-added services and committing to long-term mutual success,” striving to become the “most professional and most trustworthy” emerging boutique private equity investment firm. It is dedicated to facilitating the sustained and healthy growth of its portfolio companies and committed to delivering superior returns to its investors.

Fenglin Capital focuses on investment opportunities in the growth, mature, and M&A restructuring stages. It targets projects with outstanding teams, leading technologies, and high growth potential in sectors such as high-end manufacturing, new materials, next-generation information technology, biopharmaceuticals, education and culture, and TMT. By integrating industry resources and providing professional value-added services, Fenglin Capital empowers enterprise development.

The core members of Fenglin Capital hail from renowned financial investment institutions and technology enterprises such as Deutsche Bank, CITIC Securities, Bank of Communications, Goldstone Investment, JD Capital, IBM, and Sinosoft. With an average investment experience of over 10 years, the team has cumulatively managed assets nearing RMB 100 billion, boasting extensive investment expertise, broad channel resources, and a strong track record of historical performance.

CCB Medical Growth Fund is a venture capital fund under CCB International, operating on a market-oriented basis and focusing on investments in growth-stage healthcare enterprises. Led by CCB International, the fund was jointly established with high-quality institutions such as Kun Gaoxin Group, with its first phase totaling RMB 500 million.

The Fund leverages the comprehensive strengths of CCB International, including its extensive project sourcing capabilities, synergy with investment banking services, and a specialized healthcare investment team. By integrating high-quality healthcare industry resources from the Fund’s investors, it precisely screens for technology commercialization projects in the healthcare sector to accelerate the cultivation of innovative tech enterprises. Drawing on its rich investment and management experience as well as deep industry resources, the Fund provides comprehensive post-investment value-added services to its portfolio companies, committed to achieving mutual growth with both enterprises and investors.

CCB Medical Fund is a series of equity investment funds established by CCB International to lay out the healthcare industry in China. The funds under management include CCB Medical Fund Phase I, CCB Medical Growth Fund, Jianxing Medical Fund, etc.