Saiqiao Bio Completes Nearly RMB 200 Million Series B Financing to Drive Transformation in Cell and Gene Therapy Industry

On June 14, 2024, Saiqiao Ark (Shenzhen) Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Saiqiao Bio”) officially announced the completion of its Series B financing round. The round raised nearly RMB 200 million, led by 3E Bioventures, with participation from Ariose Capital Management Limited. Existing investors, including Tsinghua Innovation Ventures, Beijing Tengye Venture Capital Management Co., Ltd., Beijing Changping Science Park Development Co., Ltd., and Shenzhen Angel FOF, continued their support. Gelu Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor. The proceeds will accelerate the commercialization of next-generation production equipment. Aligned with the industry’s long-term development goals and ultimate requirements, Saiqiao Bio is committed to helping customers enhance the commercial competitiveness of their products, thereby accelerating a critical turning point in industrialization. Based in China and serving globally, we provide exceptional solutions to customers worldwide.

Since its establishment in March 2020, Saiqiao Biology has completed a full commercial loop—from technological invention to large-scale application—for high-end synthetic biology equipment within just four years. It has become the only company in China and one of the top three globally that possesses independent intellectual property rights and a complete supply chain, serving as a builder of new quality productive forces in the Cell and Gene Therapy (CGT) sector. The company is committed to mastering industry initiative and pricing power through source-level technological innovation and localization of key upstream manufacturing technologies and complete sets of core equipment for CGT. By achieving “one-click preparation and one-click release” for cell and gene therapies, it aims to reduce the cost of treating cancer and chronic diseases from millions to tens of thousands of yuan, thereby benefiting a broader patient population.

Over the past decade, the curative efficacy of cell and gene therapies (CGTs) for cancer has been thoroughly validated. However, constrained by manufacturing capacity and costs, the industry’s scale remains insufficient to meet substantial market demand. In 2023, fewer than 10,000 patients worldwide received immune cell therapy, underscoring the urgent need for industry transformation. Saiqiao Bio is committed to reducing the production cost of CGTs to under RMB 100,000 within the next five years, significantly enhancing the accessibility of cell and gene therapies. This initiative aims to support a breakthrough of one million patient treatments by 2030, truly addressing a market demand valued at hundreds of billions of yuan. This goal is not merely an aspiration but an inevitable trend in the industry’s development.

Since 2015, the number of clinical trials for cell and gene therapy (CGT) in China has grown rapidly. Currently, 40% of the global pipeline of innovative CGT drugs is located in China, representing a 388% increase over the past five years. China is poised to surpass the United States in 2024 to become the country with the largest number of innovative drug pipelines globally. As one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical markets, China has an increasingly urgent demand for new quality productive forces characterized by independent intellectual property rights and core technologies. Through its source-level technological innovations, Saiqiao Biologics not only precisely meets the growing domestic market demand but also successfully expands into the international market, providing the CGT industry with a digitally enabled process equipment platform that is independently developed and controllable under the “Made in China” framework.

The birth and growth of Saiqiao Biotech represent a journey closely intertwined with Tsinghua University PhDs and the National Major Project on Biological Instruments. After a decade of dedicated refinement, Saiqiao Biotech has remained steadfast in its commitment to source innovation. With over 270 patents, the company has built a comprehensive and advanced product portfolio that meets customers’ needs for full-category and full-lifecycle process solutions. By surpassing industry benchmarks in multiple key performance indicators, Saiqiao Biotech enables large-scale, low-cost, and high-efficiency production of cell and gene therapies. Several flagship products achieved the highest market share in their respective sectors within the first year of launch, setting a national record for the largest-scale equipment delivery. This rapid success has earned strong recognition from the market and customers, solidifying Saiqiao Biotech’s competitive edge and brand influence.

Saiqiao Biologics has established strategic partnerships with multiple industry-leading clients, completing its layout across various downstream therapies in the CGT field, including CAR-T, NK, TILs, TCR-T, and gene therapy. To date, Saiqiao Biologics has supported process filings or changes for 33 leading pipelines, setting a national record for the largest scale of process collaboration. Notably, clients partnered with Saiqiao have submitted marketing authorization applications, positioning Saiqiao to potentially become the first domestic CGT provider of new-quality productive forces to serve large-scale commercial production of cell therapies.

In terms of end-product applications, Saiqiao Biologics actively collaborates with medical institutions, research institutes, and industry partners to fully leverage the research achievements of customers’ advanced manufacturing processes, as well as Saiqiao Biologics’ technical advantages in cell processing tools and automated equipment. Through deep integration and innovation of processes and tools, we enhance product manufacturing quality and significantly reduce costs, achieving a seamless transition from R&D to commercial-scale production in conjunction with the Saiqiao Super Cell Factory.

As the lead investor in this round,Dr. Fang Yu, Founding Partner of 3E Bioventuresstated: “We highly value the Saiqiao team’s integration of years of accumulated expertise in instrument automation with cell biotechnology to develop an independently innovated, automated production line for cell separation, culture, and harvest. This approach reduces contamination risks and production costs associated with manual operations in traditional methods, addressing key pain points in large-scale cell production. As a result, it is a CGT upstream enterprise with significant growth potential. Its product portfolio has not only been rapidly adopted within China’s CGT industry but has also expanded into overseas markets. We believe that the cost reduction and efficiency gains achieved in large-scale cell production will enable more patients worldwide to benefit from cell therapies.”

Jiang Houjia, Founding Partner of Ariose Capitalstated: “Saiqiao Bio is a leading enterprise in the field of core upstream equipment for CGT. Following this round of financing, the company is poised to further expand its leading advantage, continuously enrich its product portfolio, and broaden multi-scenario applications. We have strong confidence in the team’s market acumen and exceptional execution capabilities, and look forward to comprehensive collaboration in the future.”

Dr. Shang Yuanfang, Founder and CEO of Saiqiao Biostated: “We extend our gratitude to all investors for their trust and support. Saiqiao Bio will continue to uphold its innovation-driven development philosophy, accelerate the development of new quality productive forces in intelligent CGT manufacturing, and steadfastly advance toward its mission of ‘ensuring no disease remains untreatable due to cost.’”

Saiqiao Biotech is a high-tech enterprise dedicated to the indigenous innovation and localization of source technologies for key upstream manufacturing processes and integrated core equipment in the cell and gene therapy industry. Co-founded by an outstanding doctoral team from the Department of Precision Instruments at Tsinghua University and internationally renowned scholars, the company boasts robust R&D capabilities and strong market competitiveness.