Kejun Pharma Completes Series B+ Financing to Accelerate Global Clinical Development

VCBeat has learned at the earliest opportunity that,On October 31, CureGene Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “CureGene”) announced the completion of its Series B+ round of financing. The round was led by Qingdao Guoxin Innovation Equity Investment Management Co., Ltd., with other major investors including Beijing Aeonmed Co., Ltd. and Infinity (Zhuhai) Venture Capital Management Co., Ltd. Existing investor Honghai Capital also continued to increase its investment.Start Capital served as the financial advisor for this round of financing and will continue to provide fundraising services to the company.

The proceeds from this financing round will be used forAccelerate the clinical development of CG-0255, a core product in the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular fields. Previously, CureGene had garnered long-term favor from numerous renowned industry institutions, including Tailong Investment, Hankang Capital, and Yonghua Investment. Since its establishment in Zhangjiang, Shanghai in 2018, CureGene has built a globally leading technology platform for targeted prodrugs and nucleic acid therapeutics, focusing on the research and development of small-molecule and nucleic acid drugs. Its pipeline includes multiple innovative drug candidates with global independent intellectual property rights and significant market potential.

CG-0255, a next-generation antiplatelet drug independently developed by CureGene, is an innovative P2Y12 receptor antagonist featuring a newly designed metabolic pathway. Clinical data demonstrate its best-in-class potential.CG-0255 has completed Phase I clinical trials for both injectable and oral formulations in the United States, with the related findings having been presented by invitation at the 2023 American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions and the 2024 European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress.Currently, the company is actively advancing the registrational clinical development of this product candidate in the United States, and has also submitted a clinical trial application in China, with related clinical development activities to follow promptly.

In addition to the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular fields, CureGene has also achieved significant success in the antiviral sector. Multiple pipelines, including broad-spectrum respiratory antiviral drugs and functional cures for chronic hepatitis B, have made breakthrough progress, demonstrating broad prospects for clinical application.

Dr. He Gongxin, the company’s founder, has over 30 years of experience in innovative drug R&D and commercialization. He has participated in and led the development of multiple international best-in-class new drugs, serving as the principal inventor and project leader for several global blockbuster products currently on the market. The company’s core scientific and operational management team members all come from world-renowned multinational pharmaceutical companies, bringing extensive expertise in innovative drug R&D, clinical operations, and commercialization in the fields of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, metabolism, respiratory disorders, and antiviral therapies.

Dr. He Gongxin, Founder and CEO of CureGene

Dr. He Gongxin, Founder of CureGeneStatement: We sincerely appreciate the investors’ strong recognition of CureGene’s R&D pipeline. The invested capital will accelerate the clinical development of our core products in China and the United States, facilitating the global deployment of our pipeline. CureGene Pharmaceutical is committed to the independent research and development of innovative drugs to address substantial unmet clinical needs. We look forward to working closely with investors and partners to advance product development and commercialization, thereby delivering benefits to patients and creating value for society.

Guoxin Innovation EquityStatement: We are optimistic about the company’s seasoned management team, given their extensive experience and resource accumulation in the field of innovative drug R&D. The core product has demonstrated excellent clinical data, showing promise in addressing the limitations of existing therapeutic options and possessing significant market potential. Meanwhile, the company has also laid out an innovative pipeline with substantial clinical value. We hope that this round of financing will help accelerate the company’s development, advance the clinical and commercialization processes of its products, and bring more treatment options to patients.

Beijing Aeonmed InvestmentIt stated that “Sincerely Guarding Life” is Aeonmed’s brand mission, which aligns closely with CureGene. Aeonmed Group believes that by deeply cultivating core underlying technologies, the CureGene team can achieve significant breakthroughs and innovations through novel design of metabolic pathways for drugs such as antiplatelet agents and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) inhibitors, thereby creating differentiated competitive advantages and ensuring product prominence. Aeonmed Group highly recognizes the comprehensive capabilities of the CureGene team from the perspectives of industrial implementation and the integrated innovative development of medicine and engineering, and is optimistic about the team’s potential to become a leader in this sector. Aeonmed Group looks forward to achieving business synergy with CureGene’s products in fields such as respiratory rehabilitation and geriatric rehabilitation, and is willing to support its rapid and steady growth, bringing new vitality to China’s healthcare industry, new substance to national confidence, and more opportunities for human life and health.

Infinity CapitalStatement: CureGene has assembled a founding team led by Dr. He Gongxin, a former senior expert at Gilead Sciences. Leveraging extensive experience in drug R&D and mature corporate management capabilities, the company has achieved breakthroughs in the fields of cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and antiviral therapies. CureGene boasts a rich and globally competitive pipeline of innovative drugs. Notably, its next-generation antiplatelet agent, CG-0255, overcomes clopidogrel resistance at low doses through an innovative metabolic pathway design. With rapid onset via injection and sequential oral administration, CG-0255 holds immense market potential. We look forward to CureGene accelerating its clinical development, advancing its internationalization strategy, bringing greater benefits to patients, and continuing to achieve remarkable success in the field of innovative medicines.

CureGene, established in 2018, possesses core platform technologies and efficient, independent innovation capabilities. The company currently focuses primarily on therapeutic areas such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and antiviral treatments, striving to become an innovative pharmaceutical company rooted in China with a global footprint. Leveraging its proprietary platform technologies, CureGene has successfully developed multiple innovative pipeline drugs with broad market value and independent global intellectual property rights, and is actively advancing the clinical development of several candidates. Driven by its mission and vision, CureGene has assembled a team of high-caliber scientists and overseas-returnee talents with a global perspective. Under its comprehensive strategic layout, CureGene has achieved rapid and efficient translation of R&D achievements, with all pipelines under development holding the potential to become First-in-Class or Best-in-Class therapies.

As the private equity fund management platform under Qingdao Guoxin Financial Holdings, Guoxin Innovation Equity adheres to the development path of “being rooted in the local area, radiating across the province, laying out nationwide, and expanding globally.” Leveraging regional advantages and shareholder resource endowments, it strengthens multi-tier industry cultivation and focuses on empowering key development areas of Qingdao City and Qingdao Guoxin Group, such as pharmaceuticals and healthcare, hard technology, and modern marine industries. It innovatively explores a distinctive industry-finance integration model of “industry + industrial park + chain-leading enterprises + funds,” builds an ecosystem of “technology + capital + industry,” and establishes an investment system covering the entire corporate lifecycle and full industrial chain. Through deep capital empowerment, it achieves industry cultivation, introduction, and value enhancement, innovatively serves the real economy to improve quality and efficiency, and promotes the upgrading and development of industrial clusters.

Aeonmed is a globally leading medical device manufacturer, with business spanning the fields of healthcare, wellness, and biotechnology. Its product portfolio covers anesthesia, respiratory care, sleep therapy, oxygen therapy, emergency care, and self-testing/rapid testing. In terms of its global ecosystem layout, Aeonmed has not only established 28 provincial branches and 185 municipal offices across China, but also set up eight international subsidiaries in North and South America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa, with its business covering 30 international markets. Currently, more than 60 of its products have obtained regulatory certifications for medical devices, including approvals from China’s NMPA, the U.S. FDA, the EU CE marking, Brazil’s BGMP, and Japan’s PMDA. Adhering to its brand mission of “Sincerely Safeguarding Life,” Aeonmed is committed to providing trustworthy medical products and solutions to customers worldwide.

Infinity Capital Management Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Infinity Capital”) is an equity investment platform under Huafa Group, a leading state-owned enterprise in Zhuhai and one of China’s Top 500 Enterprises. It also serves as the core operational entity of the Infinity Group, a renowned investment management firm originating from Israel. The company primarily manages onshore RMB funds and cross-border investment operations, with a presence in more than ten cities across China and abroad. It has established five major business segments: Healthcare, East China, South China, Southwest China, and Hong Kong & Overseas Regions. Infinity Capital has made strategic investments in key sectors including new energy, integrated circuits, healthcare and life sciences, advanced manufacturing, new materials, and TMT (Technology, Media, and Telecom). Its portfolio companies include Digital China Information Service (000555.SZ), Will Semiconductor (603005.SH), LOCO (002280.SZ), Baozun Inc. (09991.HK / BZUN.US), and United Water Resources (603291.SH), which have successfully listed on the A-share, U.S., and Hong Kong stock markets.

In recent years, the company’s investment performance has maintained steady growth. A number of portfolio companies have successfully completed their initial public offerings (IPOs), including Yongsheng Medical (01612.HK), Asymchem Laboratories (Tianjin) Co., Ltd. (002821.SZ), Huati Technology (603679.SH), Liancheng Precision Industry Co., Ltd. (002921.SZ), Lihu Shares (300694.SZ), Lanjian Intelligence (688557.SH), New Fengguang Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. (688663.SH), HyCay Therapeutics Co., Ltd. (688302.SH), Triductor Technology (Suzhou) Inc. (688259.SH), Silinjie (688115.SH), Laekna Therapeutics (2105.HK), and Zhongrui Shares (301587.SZ). Additionally, Hongtu Separator was acquired by the listed company Jinguan Electric (300510.SZ), and IOPtima was acquired by Kanghong Pharmaceutical (002773.SZ).