Shanghai Cellular Therapy Group Valued at $1.16B Following New Funding Round as Next-Gen CAR-T Gains Investor Favor

On April 19, Yaoji Poker issued an announcement stating that the Company convened the 20th meeting of its third Board of Directors, which reviewed and approved the “Proposal on the Introduction of New Investors to Shanghai Cell Therapy Engineering Technology Research Center Group Co., Ltd., in Which the Company Invested, Along with the Company’s Simultaneous Capital Increase Therein and the Related-Party Transaction.”

As stipulated in the capital increase agreement, the pre-money valuation of Cell Group Company was RMB 650 million prior to this capital increase. Following the transaction, Legend Capital and the Company invested a total of RMB 185 million, with Legend Capital contributing RMB 160 million and the Company contributing RMB 25 million. The post-money valuation of Cell Group Company reached RMB 835 million. The equity shareholding structure after the completion of the capital increase is shown below:



According to VCBeat, the Shanghai Cell Therapy Engineering Technology Research Center is a municipal-level engineering technology research center approved for establishment by the Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission.Shanghai Cell Therapy Engineering Technology Research Center Co., Ltd. is the sole operational platform of the center, with a registered capital of RMB 100 million.The headquarters of the center covers an area of 55 mu and is located in Jiading District, Shanghai. The center comprises the Shanghai Institute for Cell Therapy, the Cell Therapy Manufacturing Center, the Cell Storage Bank, the Shanghai Wu Mengchao Oncology Medical Center, the Shanghai Baize Medical Laboratory, the Shanghai Baize Cellular Aesthetic Medicine Center, and Shanghai Baize Medical Device Co., Ltd. Its business scope includes cell therapy, cell cryopreservation, genetic testing, and medical big data, aiming to establish a top-tier domestic and world-class international cell therapy center integrating production, treatment, and research and development.

Yaoji Playing Cards’ “Big Entertainment + Big Health” Strategy

The announcement stated that the introduction of new investors into Cell Group Company would strengthen its capital base and facilitate the construction of two high-end oncology medical centers under its subsidiary, Shanghai Wu Mengchao Oncology Medical Center Co., Ltd., thereby seizing development opportunities for greater growth. With the rapid advancement of immunocyte therapy, Cell Group’s next-generation CAR-T therapy has achieved further encouraging clinical progress. In addition to demonstrating efficacy in patients with acute B-cell lymphoblastic leukemia, it has also shown significant therapeutic effects in patients with head and neck tumors, underscoring the effectiveness of its new non-viral vector CAR-T technology. Yaoji Poker remains optimistic about its development prospects; therefore, it participated in this round of capital increase by making additional investments to further expand its commitment to precision medicine, aligning with Yaoji Poker’s “Big Health” strategic layout.

Yaoji Poker’s grand health strategy has a long history; in 2014, Yaoji Poker established its “Strategic Planning for “Grand Entertainment + Grand Health”. Over the past three years, leveraging the synergy between its traditional core business and the “Grand Entertainment” strategy, the company has continuously explored investment opportunities in the grand health sector. ThroughHaving invested in Shanghai Cell Therapy Group, the company successfully entered the biomedical industry. On June 3, 2014, Yaoji Poker announced that it planned to invest in Shanghai Cell Therapy Engineering Technology Research Center Co., Ltd. (officially renamed Shanghai Cell Therapy Engineering Technology Research Center Group Co., Ltd. on December 23, 2015) through a capital increase, paying a consideration of RMB 130 million to ultimately hold a 22% equity stake in Shanghai Cell Therapy Company.

Yaoji Poker’s Achievements in Big Health Research: Over the past two years, Cell Group Company has accumulated extensive clinical treatment data. As of October 2015, a total of 16,848 clinical treatments and immune cell production therapies had been completed. Among 408 patients with malignant tumors (the vast majority being late-stage) who underwent more than three treatment courses, the overall survival rate was 40.2% during a 45-month follow-up period. Specifically, the overall survival rate for 73 lung cancer patients approached 50%, while it reached 78% for 30 early-stage liver cancer patients and 30% for 78 late-stage liver cancer patients. Meanwhile, the company has applied for over 30 patented technologies, seven of which are key patents related to cell therapy that the China National Intellectual Property Administration deemed potentially involving national security or significant interests requiring confidentiality. Six clinical trials are currently recruiting volunteers, with particularly remarkable therapeutic effects observed so far.

In the field of precision immune cell therapy for cancer, the Cell Group has strategically laid out five key directions: clinical application of precision cellular immunotherapy, research and development of new technologies in precision cellular immunotherapy, storage of precision cell seeds, detection of the genetic background of precision cells, and clinical-scale preparation of precision cells along with the R&D of related equipment. By leveraging next-generation CAR-T, PMA-T, PNA-T, and PIK-T as its three "swords" of cell therapy, the company addresses four core technical challenges: immune cell tropism, initiation and complete tumor killing, suppression by the tumor microenvironment, and off-target effects on normal tissue cells. It has established two core technology platforms: a stable, efficient, simple, and cost-effective novel non-viral gene modification technology, and a clinical-scale expansion technology for activated T cells. Both therapeutic efficacy and technological capabilities have reached a leading level domestically. Furthermore, the company has built an immune cell biobank with a capacity of 30,000 individuals, launching immune cell storage programs for both healthy individuals and cancer patients, thereby laying the foundation for future therapeutic and anti-aging technologies.

Legend Capital: Healthcare Is One of the Six Key Focus Areas

According to the official website, healthcare is one of the six key focus areas for Legend Capital. In January this year, VCBeat reported that Legend Capital has been dedicated to healthcare investment for nearly a decade, cumulatively investing in more than 40 healthcare companies, including Innovent Biologics, KingMed Diagnostics, and Yixintang. It has become one of the top venture capital firms in China’s healthcare sector. Currently, Legend Capital’s investments in the healthcare industry cover pharmaceuticals, medical devices, diagnostics, and services, creating a substantial healthcare industrial and value chain.

Ouyang Xiangyu, Managing Director at Legend Capital, stated that the firm recognized early on that investing in the healthcare industry is a long-term endeavor requiring professionalism and focus. Legend Capital’s core focus when evaluating healthcare companies lies in their innovation capabilities, specifically manifested in two dimensions: technological innovation and business model innovation.

CAR-T Therapy Technology


According to VCBeat, cancer immunotherapy, which targets the human immune system rather than directly attacking tumors, has a history spanning more than 30 years. CAR-T, short for Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Immunotherapy, is a novel cell therapy that has been refined and introduced into clinical practice only in recent years. It has demonstrated significant efficacy in treating acute leukemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and is regarded as one of the most promising approaches to cancer treatment. Like all technologies, CAR-T has undergone a lengthy evolutionary process, through which it has gradually matured. In the past two years, several breakthrough research findings in this field have been published in top international journals such as Cell, Science, and Nature, while pharmaceutical giants have continuously launched blockbuster therapies of this type. These developments seem to herald the arrival of the era of immunotherapy.