neoX Biotech Secures $30 Million Series A Funding to Advance Multiple Innovative Drug Candidates Through Preclinical Development

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that neoX Biotech, a cutting-edge technology company driving new drug R&D through computational design, has announced the completion of its $30 million Series A financing round.Co-led by Yunjiu Capital and Wuyuan Capital, with participation from BAI Capital and Vertex Ventures; existing investors Yuanjing Capital and Sequoia China continued to increase their stakes.。

This round of financing will be primarily used to accelerate the preclinical development of the company’s multiple innovative drug pipelines, strengthen talent team building, and expand international commercial collaborations.

This marks neoX Biotech’s third round of financing; previously, the company completed its angel and Pre-A rounds in 2018 and 2020, respectively.

From the pre-A round to the A round, it took only half a year to quickly gain unanimous recognition from both new and existing investors,Dr. Chen Hang, Co-founder and CEO of neoX BiotechHe stated, “We are deeply grateful to both new and existing shareholders for their strong recognition and steadfast support of neoX. Throughout our journey, guided by our unique understanding of new drug development, we have leveraged our computational design-driven drug discovery platform, neoPlatform, to strategically deploy the most promising neoModality, achieving exciting milestone results. With the capital infusion from this round of financing by new and existing shareholders, we will comprehensively accelerate the advancement of our self-developed and collaborative pipeline, neoPipeline, positioning ourselves as a next-generation, computational design-driven pharmaceutical company.”

Over the past six months, neoX Biotech has successfully established a next-generation innovative drug R&D platform based on the triad of “AI + biophysics + high-throughput screening.” Several innovative drug development pipelines derived from this platform have achieved significant preclinical progress, showing strong potential to become “First-in-Class” or “Best-in-Class” therapies. In 2020, neoX Biotech was honored with the “Best Innovation” Award by MIT Technology Review and won the First Prize at the HICOOL Global Entrepreneurship Competition, among other accolades, in recognition of its major technological breakthroughs in new drug development.

Dr. Chen Hang also disclosed to VCBeat that the company expects several drug candidates to enter the preclinical candidate (PCC) stage by the end of this year or early next year. In addition, neoX Biotech has reached multiple pipeline-level collaborations with international pharmaceutical companies.

neoX Biotech’s value creation in AI-enabled new drug development is grounded in the fundamental logic that biological systems and drug actions are computable. By conducting in-depth research and characterization of protein-protein interactions (PPIs), the company firmly believes that AI-driven computational design will serve as the engine propelling the pharmaceutical R&D industry chain.

“We are exploring the most cutting-edge drug modalities,” said Dr. Chen Hang. “We believe that multispecific molecules and biologics represent the two most promising directions for the future. By leveraging our new neoPlatform technology to design novel drug modalities, we aim to truly ‘think out of the box’—breaking free from conventional drug design frameworks—to tackle ‘undruggable’ targets.”

In the currently popular field of PROTAC bispecific molecules for protein degradation technology, neoX Biotech conducts in-depth research on protein-protein interactions (PPIs) to accurately predict the "target protein-PROTAC-E3 ubiquitin ligase" ternary complex. This approach enables a higher-dimensional understanding of the biophysical principles underlying protein function and degradation, thereby facilitating more rapid design, screening, and iterative optimization of protein-degrading drugs. Regarding biologics, Dr. Chen Hang stated that neoX Biotech places greater emphasis on the design and development of nanobodies, polyclonal antibodies, and neoantigen-T cell receptors.

It is reported that neoX Biotech has efficiently advanced more than 10 R&D projects through the development of its proprietary pipeline and collaborative pipeline initiatives with partner pharmaceutical companies. Among these, the most rapidly progressing portfolio is its drug pipeline based on protein degradation technology, which represents the company’s recent strategic focus.

There are currently over 4,000 disease-related targets identified in the market; however, only about one-quarter have been successfully addressed by existing therapies, leaving the remaining three-quarters considered "undruggable." Multidisciplinary, cutting-edge platforms for novel drug development hold promise for overcoming the challenge of "undruggable" targets. neoX Biotech has recognized this timely opportunity and aims to leverage its team's interdisciplinary expertise and capabilities to accelerate innovative drug development, address unmet clinical needs, and bring significant benefits to patients.

For the investment in neoX Biotech, the lead investorCao Darong, Founding Partner of Yunjiu Capital“Traditional drug development cycles are lengthy, but with the advancement of information technology, the pharmaceutical industry is bound to accelerate. We believe that AI-driven acceleration in drug discovery is not only inevitable but already underway. The team led by Dr. Chen Hang and Dr. Liu Fan boasts multidisciplinary expertise, rapidly iterating their technological capabilities grounded in a firm belief in ‘first-principles thinking.’ More importantly, driven by a strong sense of mission, they are boldly exploring innovative drug development based on protein-protein interactions. We are excited about their progress and look forward to neoX Biotech achieving further breakthroughs.”

Co-Lead InvestorJing Xutian, Managing Director at Wuyuan CapitalHe also stated, “Researching protein-protein interactions holds significant application potential in the biomedical and pharmaceutical fields, and leveraging computational methods and AI to study these interactions represents the most efficient and accurate approach. As one of the earliest investors in neoX Biotech, we are delighted to see that within just over two years, the company has not only established its computational design platform but also begun translating preliminary achievements into drug assets. The founding team has demonstrated strong momentum, evolving from a purely technical group into a comprehensive, technology-driven biopharmaceutical team. We look forward to neoX Biotech becoming a true next-generation, computation-driven biotech and pharmaceutical company in China, supported by talent, technology, and capital.”

Hou Xiaolin, Vice President of BAI CapitalIt stated: “neoX Biotech integrates cutting-edge biophysics, artificial intelligence, high-throughput experimentation, and cloud computing technologies to create a novel computational-driven drug design and development paradigm. We are highly optimistic about the outstanding team led by Dr. Hang Chen and Dr. Fan Liu. Leveraging their in-depth understanding of protein-protein interactions, they can rapidly screen and design new drug candidates. neoX Biotech has the potential to become an AI-powered R&D platform that consistently delivers high-quality innovative therapeutics.”

Yuan Jianwei, Partner at Vertex VenturesHe stated, “The rules for ‘winning’ in Go are clear with well-defined boundaries, whereas the definition of a ‘good drug’ in pharmaceutical development varies depending on the specific disease and target, often leading to different or even contradictory criteria and characteristics. Due to the relatively limited availability of drug molecule data, AI has long faced significant challenges in transferability within drug design, making it far more complex than Go. The team at neoX Biotech possesses profound expertise in drug design and algorithm development. They have innovatively integrated AI technology with unique data annotation capabilities to address the physicochemical fundamentals of drug development. When confronting ‘novel’ challenges such as PROTACs, their AI algorithms demonstrated robust transferability, facilitating an initial shift from ‘screening’ to ‘computation,’ thereby significantly shortening the R&D cycle. This represents a breakthrough in PROTAC development. While the AI application in PROTACs addresses small-molecule issues, the bottlenecks it overcomes originate from the realm of large molecules. This also highlights neoX Biotech’s potential and transferability in applying algorithms to the development of specialized antibodies.”

Tian Min, Partner at Yuanjing Capital“Biotechnology is a sector we have been closely monitoring. Since investing in neoX Biotech, we have observed three significant changes: first, the industry’s overall recognition of computation- and AI-driven drug discovery is gradually strengthening; second, neoX’s product portfolio is becoming increasingly diverse, demonstrating the broad applicability of its computational platform; and third, neoX has achieved breakthroughs and innovation in pipeline design, coupled with outstanding experimental results. We remain optimistic about neoX’s future development and look forward to its continued success.”

Cao Xi, Partner at Sequoia Capital China“neoX Biotech stands out as a unique AI-driven drug discovery company in terms of its therapeutic focus, technology platform, and team background. In the six months following Sequoia China’s previous round of investment, neoX Biotech has made significant progress across its drug pipeline, business collaborations, team building, and technology platform. We look forward to seeing neoX Biotech achieve breakthroughs in addressing the critical challenges associated with historically ‘undruggable’ targets.”

Yunjiu Capital, established in 2016, is a venture capital fund. The team comprises senior technical experts, successful entrepreneurs, and investors, with a primary focus on internet platforms, hard technology, enterprise services, and the consumer and general health sectors. With years of deep engagement in China’s venture capital landscape, the Yunjiu team is committed to growing alongside the world’s largest innovation market, exploring the unknown, and co-creating the future.

5Y Capital (formerly Morningside Venture Capital) is one of China’s earliest institutions engaged in early-stage venture capital. It currently manages dual-currency funds in both USD and RMB, with assets under management totaling several billion US dollars. Its limited partners include internationally renowned sovereign wealth funds, family offices, funds of funds, and university endowments. 5Y Capital seeks out, supports, and empowers solitary entrepreneurs, providing them with comprehensive assistance ranging from emotional support to operational guidance. We believe that when the “crazy” individuals in others’ eyes begin to gain trust, the world will be transformed in remarkable ways.

Over the past 12 years since its establishment, BAI Capital has invested in nearly 200 internet companies, achieving 12 IPOs and cultivating more than 20 unicorns. Its investment portfolio spans retail, consumer goods and services, content and media innovation, industrial technology and software, as well as frontier technologies and foundational infrastructure. BAI is dedicated to identifying market leaders, innovators, and trendsetters from the early to growth stages, leveraging its global network to help entrepreneurs expand their strategic footprint.

Vertex Ventures, established in 1988, is one of the earliest venture capital firms in Asia and a member company of Temasek Holdings. Vertex Ventures China began its operations in China in 2008, with assets under management exceeding RMB 10 billion. Vertex China is dedicated to investing in high-growth innovative enterprises, focusing on three key sectors: innovative technology, the new digital economy, and healthcare.

Yuanjing Capital was founded in 2015 by Mr. Wu Yongming, one of Alibaba’s “Eighteen Arhats.” Its team comprises experts from core positions at leading internet companies and seasoned investors from top-tier Chinese venture capital firms, providing startups with practical experience and team support. Since its inception, Yuanjing Capital has invested across numerous sectors, including new consumption, enterprise services, digital health, and frontier technologies. The firm has backed over 100 projects, including well-known companies such as Li Auto, Missfresh, Tantan, AISpeech, Jushuitan, and Xiaodian Technology.

Sequoia Capital has always been committed to helping entrepreneurs build enduring, great companies by bringing rich global resources and valuable historical experience to its portfolio companies. Over the past 49 years, Sequoia Capital has invested in numerous innovative enterprises and leaders shaping industry trends. As “entrepreneurs behind entrepreneurs,” Sequoia Capital China focuses on investment opportunities in three sectors: technology/media, healthcare, and consumer goods/services. Over the past 16 years, Sequoia Capital China has invested in nearly 600 companies with distinct technological advantages, innovative business models, and high growth potential.