ICT Announces Completion of New Financing Round to Accelerate Next-Generation CAR-T Programs for Hematologic Malignancies and Solid Tumors

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) learned on December 18, 2019, that ICT (Si Dan Race) announced the successful completion of a new round of equity financing.

ICT is a biotechnology company specializing in the development of CAR-T cell therapies, equipped with multiple technology platforms and a diverse product pipeline. The company is dedicated to researching and developing CAR-T cell therapies for both hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. LH Ventures, a prominent venture capital firm focused on disruptive innovations in the healthcare industry, has provided funding support for ICT’s next-generation CAR-T therapies. ICT’s “armored” CAR-T technology enables CD19-targeted CAR-T cells to express dominant-negative PD-1 protein, thereby blocking tumor cell-mediated immunosuppression. This project has received investigational new drug (IND) approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), with clinical trials scheduled to commence in the United States in the first half of 2020. This financing round will also support ICT’s innovative cell therapies targeting solid tumors, aiming to achieve breakthroughs in CAR-T treatment for solid tumors.

Dr. Xie Xin, a partner at Linghang Xinjie, stated, “We are deeply impressed by the ICT team’s innovative capabilities and their sense of responsibility toward patients. We are energized by ICT’s next-generation dominant negative PD-1 CAR-T expression platform and its solid tumor technologies. We believe that ICT will achieve outstanding results in the field of CAR-T therapy for both hematologic malignancies and solid tumors.”

In addition to the recent equity investment by Linghang Xinjie, ICT’s previous investors included several well-known domestic financial institutions such as C-Bridge Capital, Volcanic Stone Capital, GTJA Capital, SoftBank China, and CDH Investments.

Dr. Xiao Lei, Founder and CEO of ICT Biologics, stated, “We are delighted to receive support from Linghang Xinjie to further accelerate our globalization efforts. Our R&D technology platform has also attracted other international investors; Linghang Xinjie’s participation underscores the shared confidence in the innovation and viability of our R&D technology platform.”

Linghang Xinjie is a distinguished venture capital firm deeply engaged in value creation, focusing on early-stage startups driven by innovation and disruptive technologies. The firm is composed of renowned entrepreneurs, scientists, physicians, and seasoned capital market experts who identify teams and companies with exceptional potential in the market and help them become industry leaders.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the Investigational New Drug (IND) application for ICTCAR014, a next-generation “armored” CAR-T product. This CD19-targeted CAR-T therapy is designed for relapsed/refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma (r/r NHL) and features expression of dominant negative PD-1 on the CAR-T cell surface to block tumor-mediated immunosuppressive pathways, thereby enhancing CAR-T cell functionality—hence the term “armored” CAR-T cells. This cellular therapy for r/r NHL has demonstrated remarkable efficacy in clinical practice. At the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) Annual Meeting held this November, ICT presented clinical data for this product. As of November 2019, among 13 evaluable NHL patients, the overall response rate (ORR) was 92.3%, with a complete response (CR) rate of 53.8% and a partial response (PR) rate of 38.5%. The therapy has shown significant objective tumor responses in current clinical observations, accompanied by low and manageable treatment-related toxicities.

ICT Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (ICT) is a company dedicated to the research and development of innovative CAR-T cell therapies for hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. Currently, ICT has achieved remarkable preclinical and clinical outcomes using cutting-edge CAR-T technology in advanced-stage diseases such as lymphoma and leukemia. This year, ICT’s product ICTCAR014, targeting CD19 for non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and expressing Dominant Negative PD-1, received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for clinical trials. Previously, its CD19-targeted product for B-cell acute leukemia received clinical trial approval from the Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE) in China. ICT Biotechnology Co., Ltd. boasts a robust pipeline for solid tumors, with multiple innovative CAR-T technologies currently under development and in clinical trials.