Nanjing Bartfly Pharma Packaging Secures Tens of Millions in Angel Funding Led by China Growth Capital to Accelerate Domestic Substitution of High-End Pharmaceutical Packaging

On March 3, 2025, Nanjing Batfulai Pharmaceutical Packaging Materials Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Batfulai”) announced the completion of its angel financing round, raising tens of millions of yuan. The round was led by China Growth Capital, with participation from Jinyu Maowu Investment Management and Topolefin Technology (Quzhou) Co., Ltd. Ruohua Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor. The funds raised will be used to advance the research and development and industrialization of a new generation of silicone oil-free pre-filled syringe platforms, break international monopolies, and facilitate a material revolution in China’s pharmaceutical packaging industry.

Founded in 2022, Nanjing Batfulai Pharmaceutical Packaging Materials Co., Ltd. focuses on building a high-performance packaging platform for injectables using cyclic olefin copolymer (COC/COP) as the base material, combined with a silicone oil-free lubrication system. Its core product, the silicone oil-free pre-filled syringe, achieves domestic firsts in ultra-low particulate levels, tungsten-free composition, and silicone oil-free formulation through its unique mold structure and fully automated production line, significantly enhancing drug safety.

Nanjing Batfulai Built and Put into Mass Production China's First Fully Automated Production Line for Silicone Oil-Free Polymer Pre-filled Syringes

“We believe our products must address critical industry pain points to deliver value to customers. Traditional glass pre-filled syringes rely on silicone oil spray lubrication technology and face challenges in their manufacturing processes, such as tungsten heavy metal residues, high energy consumption, and significant pollution,” said Yin Fumin, General Manager of Nanjing Batfulai Pharmaceutical Packaging Materials Co., Ltd. “Our silicone-free system, jointly developed with Shengzhou Group, has broken the technological monopoly held by Japanese and European companies, establishing a complete closed-loop from materials to production. It has already been successfully applied in complex formulations, demonstrating significant performance advantages.”

Lu Hanjie, Partner at China Growth Capital, the lead investor in this round, stated, “Batfulai’s comprehensive capabilities in materials science, robotic automation, precision manufacturing, and pharmaceutical-device synergy have filled the gap in domestically produced high-end pharmaceutical packaging materials. China Growth Capital will leverage its industrial resources to help Batfulai connect with multinational pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology firms, thereby facilitating global certification of its products.”

Li Hongsen, a partner at Jinyu Maowu Investment Management, stated, “The team at Nanjing Batfulai Pharmaceutical Packaging Materials Co., Ltd. is highly efficient, passionate, professionally focused, and globally minded. The high-performance injectable packaging materials they have developed are poised to break international monopolies, offering a new premium packaging option for pharmaceutical and medical device companies both in China and abroad, while addressing the industry-wide pain points associated with silicone oil. Jinyu Maowu will leverage its own ecosystem to empower the company’s continuous development of globally leading innovative premium packaging materials and to facilitate the commercialization of products in the medical aesthetics industry.”

As the only company in China to have achieved commercial production of cyclic olefin polymers, co-investor Topolefin Technology will provide customized raw material support to Batfulai, thereby not only reinforcing supply chain security—a top priority in the pharmaceutical industry—but also further strengthening its technological barriers.

According to VCBeat’s “2025 White Paper on China’s Pharmaceutical Supply Chain,” the global market for pre-filled syringes is projected to exceed $8 billion by 2030, with China accounting for more than 15%. However, the high-end segment has long been monopolized by international giants such as Schott, Ompi, and BD, creating an urgent need for domestic substitution of high-performance primary packaging materials.

Batfulai’s China-First UV-Curing Adhesive-Free and Silicone Oil-Free Polymer Needle Insertion Pre-Filled Syringe Developed for the Chinese Biopharmaceutical Market

“Traditional glass pre-filled syringe manufacturing involves a complex process with at least 40 steps,” said Gao Xingyu, Executive Director of Nanjing Batfulai Pharmaceutical Packaging Materials Co., Ltd. “Our product, from injection molding to final packaging, is entirely processed under Class 100 laminar flow, requiring only about 12 steps. Unlike traditional borosilicate glass products, our solution eliminates the need for silicone oil and UV-curable adhesives, resulting in lower operational and release costs. Furthermore, by incorporating advanced manufacturing technologies such as X-ray inspection and through-beam light source detection systems, we deliver superior product quality and performance.”

Under conventional glass pre-filled syringe systems, industry pain points have included insoluble particles and protein aggregation caused by silicone oil, as well as tungsten contamination introduced during the manufacturing process. Currently, the mainstream global silicone-free solutions are represented by West Pharmaceutical Services’ Daikyo full-lamination technology and Terumo Corporation’s coating technology, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. Nanjing Batfulai has fully mastered both full-lamination and coating silicone-free technologies and has achieved commercial delivery, enabling it to provide tailored silicone-free system products based on customers’ specific formulation characteristics and requirements.

Furthermore, glass pre-filled syringe systems typically require UV-curable adhesives to bond stainless steel needles to glass barrels. Organic contamination and extractables from these adhesives have long been industry concerns. Nanjing Batfulai Pharmaceutical Packaging Materials Co., Ltd. is the first company in China and the fourth globally to break through with integrated needle molding technology. By leveraging proprietary automation and precise mold control, the company achieves seamless integration of stainless steel needles and syringe barrels without the need for UV-curable adhesives. This results in a more streamlined and elegant product design while addressing, at the source, the issues of tungsten heavy metal contamination associated with traditional glass systems and extractables from UV adhesives.

In the past, due to limitations in the processability of borosilicate glass, many pharmaceutical companies’ customization needs could not be met or addressed, imposing significant constraints from the perspective of formulation development. With the adoption of COC/COP materials, greater design and molding flexibility is achieved. Leveraging advanced technologies such as Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Ansys, Nanjing Batfulai Pharmaceutical Packaging Materials Co., Ltd. can provide customized, personalized solutions tailored to the specific characteristics of customers’ formulations.

Batfulai’s Patented Dual-Thread Silicone Oil-Free Pre-filled Syringe System Designed for the Characteristics of Hyaluronic Acid Formulations

Reduces the injection force required for hyaluronic acid with a viscosity of 40,000 cP to 20 Nm, which is only one-quarter of that of competitors (when used with standard 27G or 29G TW injection needles).

In Q2 2025, the company will complete construction of its second fully automated production line (with an annual capacity of 60 million units). This facility is China’s first fully automated production line for polymer needle prefillable syringes without silicone oil, breaking the product monopoly held by Japan’s Terumo Corporation and the U.S.-based West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc., and achieving a breakthrough from zero to one in this product category in China. Meanwhile, the prefillable syringers produced on this line will incorporate a 100% X-ray inline inspection system for the first time, ensuring consistent product quality delivered to customers and enhancing drug safety starting from the packaging material stage.

By deploying an online X-ray inspection system, Nanjing Batfulai Pharmaceutical Packaging Materials Co., Ltd. has become the first in the industry to inspect the condition of stainless steel needles after cap assembly, thereby enhancing packaging material quality and improving drug safety.

Batfulai’s first silicone-free polymer Luer lock prefillable syringe product was filed with the CDE and FDA in 2024, and was pioneered in mainland China for use in complex injectables containing nanocrystals; the customer’s product submitted its New Drug Application (NDA) in 2024.

The design of the dual-chamber, silicone-free polymer pre-filled syringe has been finalized, and procurement contracts have been signed with downstream customers. This marks the first time in mainland China that such a product has reached design finalization and commercial production, while also allowing customers to perform lyophilization after filling. This achievement underscores the company’s leadership and originality in high-end packaging design, packaging applications, and professional technical support.

Nanjing Batfulai Pharmaceutical Packaging Materials Co., Ltd. is dedicated to providing safe and efficient primary packaging solutions for injectables to global biopharmaceutical enterprises through material innovation and intelligent, advanced manufacturing. The company holds ISO 15378 quality management system certification. Its core team comprises experts from the biopharmaceutical and precision manufacturing sectors, offering comprehensive technical support throughout the entire process—from packaging design and pilot-scale production to customer simulation filling and commercial-scale manufacturing.

VCBeat Note: This article does not constitute any investment advice and is for informational purposes only. For further details about the company, please contact official channels.