RejuTec Pharma Secures Over RMB 100 Million in Pre-A Financing to Advance Innovative Anti-Aging Therapeutics

On May 8, 2024, Nanjing Ruichu Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Ruichu Pharmaceutical”) announced the completion of its Pre-A financing round, raising over RMB 100 million. The round was led by Longpan Investment, with participation from Delian Capital and Dingxin Capital. The funds will be used to advance the clinical trial applications and development of Ruichu Pharmaceutical’s core projects.

"Ruichu Pharma was established in 2021."years, with the mission of enhancing human healthspan. Addressing unmet clinical needs, the company is the first in China to develop novel therapeutics that prevent, treat, and reverse aging and age-related diseases by targeting aging mechanisms. The founding team boasts over a decade of research experience in the field of aging, while core members possess decades of new drug R&D experience in the Chinese and U.S. pharmaceutical industries. They demonstrate core competencies in scientific direction decision-making, accelerating R&D progress, and effectively translating products. Since its establishment, the company has garnered extensive attention from the industry in recent years.“Capital Winter”Bucking the trend, it has completed two rounds of financing, each amounting to tens of millions of yuan. The successful completion of this round of financing is not only another milestone in its own development but also reflects the strong confidence of capital and the industry in high-quality enterprises in the anti-aging sector.

Aging is an inevitable human process, yet delaying it remains humanity’s enduring dream and relentless pursuit. As population aging intensifies and the number of individuals suffering from age-related diseases surges, modulating the onset of geriatric diseases by slowing the aging process has become a key focus for industry and capital. Over the past two years, leading star companies in the anti-aging sector abroad have successively secured substantial financing rounds ranging from hundreds of millions to tens of billions of U.S. dollars. In January this year, the General Office of the State Council issued China’s first policy document on the “silver economy”—the “Opinions on Developing the Silver Economy to Enhance the Well-being of the Elderly”—which explicitly calls for the development of the anti-aging industry. Achieving “aging without decline and aging without disease” is not only the mission and responsibility of scientists and technologists but also represents a significant opportunity for the new drug industry.

Since its inception, Ruichu Pharmaceuticals has adhered to the philosophy of being a “leader, explorer, and practitioner in the R&D of novel anti-aging drugs,” continuously advancing the development of new anti-aging therapeutics. The company systematically regulates aging from multiple dimensions and targets the development of drugs for various degenerative diseases driven by aging processes. Currently, its most advanced project has entered the stage of preparing clinical trial application materials, placing Ruichu Pharmaceuticals among the global first tier in innovative anti-aging drug R&D. Over the next one to two years, Ruichu Pharmaceuticals plans to advance multiple pipeline products into clinical trials, strengthen clinical translation, integrate innovative resources globally, engage in pragmatic collaborations, and lead and facilitate innovative development within the industry.

Dr. Yin Ji, Founder of Ruichu Pharmaceuticals“We are deeply honored to have gained the recognition and support of numerous investment partners, and we extend our sincere gratitude to our team for their innovative vision and execution capabilities. The scientific foundation in the field of aging has been accumulating for a century, and in recent years, opportunities for translating aging science into therapeutics have begun to emerge. We believe that forward-looking therapies targeting aging mechanisms will offer more effective treatment options for a wide range of degenerative diseases. Rayture Biopharma is currently in a phase of rapid growth. We will focus on our core pipeline advantages, accelerate clinical drug development, and strive to lead the overall development of the vast blue-ocean market in the anti-aging industry.”

Mr. Yu Zhihua, Chairman of Longpan InvestmentIt was stated that Ruichu Pharma is an innovative drug R&D enterprise focused on the field of aging, developing novel therapeutics that target aging mechanisms to intervene in and treat age-related diseases. In recent years, increasing research and translational efforts have been directed toward aging-related fields. With the accelerating pace of population aging, there is a significant unmet clinical need in addressing aging and age-related diseases. Starting from aging-related targets, the Ruichu team has initially focused on age-related diseases, holding great promise for identifying more effective and broadly applicable therapeutic agents, thereby demonstrating substantial potential. We are delighted to participate in Ruichu’s growth through investment and support the team’s collaborative efforts. We look forward to seeing Ruichu’s products enter clinical trials at an early stage, benefiting patients and providing high-quality treatment solutions for aging and related diseases.

Mr. He Xiaopeng, Executive Director of Delian CapitalIt was stated that in recent years, as global population aging has intensified, age-related diseases have become a major burden on global health. Meanwhile, scientific research into the mechanisms of anti-aging continues to expand, and various complex diseases, such as ophthalmic disorders and fibrotic diseases, have been confirmed to be closely associated with cellular senescence. Understanding the pathogenesis and progression of these conditions through senescence-related biological mechanisms, and intervening via strategies such as targeted clearance of senescent cells and partial reprogramming, has emerged as a new hope for treating complex age-related diseases. The founding team of Ruichu Biopharma possesses extensive accumulation and keen insights into targets related to aging mechanisms, along with rich industry experience in developing first-in-class drugs. The company looks forward to advancing multiple pipeline candidates into clinical stages in the near future, thereby offering new hope to patients.

Mr. Deng Ning, Partner at Dingxin CapitalIt was stated that the anti-aging sector presents substantial unmet clinical needs and differentiated opportunities for innovation. The company has accumulated years of scientific research expertise in anti-aging mechanisms and targets, yielding robust preclinical data from animal studies. Dingxin Capital is bullish on the forward-looking nature of this platform technology, as well as the team’s extensive experience in new drug development management within the Chinese and U.S. pharmaceutical industries and their exceptional execution capabilities. We look forward to Ruichu Pharma bringing greater benefits to the global new drug development market and patients worldwide.

Longpan Investment, headquartered in Beijing, is a leading biomedical venture capital firm in China. Currently, Longpan Investment manages five RMB-denominated funds and one USD-denominated fund, with total assets under management exceeding RMB 10 billion. It is the only biomedical investment institution to date that has received capital commitments from both of China’s top two RMB limited partners (LPs): the National Council for Social Security Fund and the National Fund for Development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises.Longpan Investment focuses on investments in innovative drugs and innovative medical devices, primarily targeting early-stage, start-up, and growth-stage companies. To date, it has invested in over 120 companies, including more than 100 innovative drug enterprises and over 20 innovative medical device companies. Its portfolio features numerous star projects such as Beta Pharma (SZ.300558), RemeGen (SH.688331), Yihong Pharmaceuticals (SH.688176), Kaiyin Technology (SH.688687), ImmuneOnco (HK.01541), Aier Eye Hospital Group-affiliated Eyebright Medical (SH.688050), Contineum Pharmaceutical (GYRE), Huahao Zhongtian, BinHui Biotech, and Wuhe Bo’ao. Many partners in Longpan Investment’s management team possess over 20 years of R&D and management experience in the international and domestic biomedical industries, enabling them to provide comprehensive value-added services to portfolio companies.

DeLian Capital, established in 2011, has remained dedicated to technology and innovative healthcare, with a strategic focus on sub-sectors including pan-semiconductors, energy technology, intelligent equipment, artificial intelligence, innovative drugs, and medical technology. The firm specializes in identifying early-stage investment opportunities driven by technological innovation. To date, it has invested in over 100 companies, such as Maxio Technology, ChipSailing, Nanjing Hongtai, Inceptio Technology, Rokae, Mech-Mind, FIT2CLOUD, Venus Medtech, Amunix, Gaocheng Biology, Zhishan Weixin, and Xunyin Biologics.

Dingxin Capital was established in 2014. Its core team members possess extensive composite backgrounds in both finance and industry. Guided by the corporate mission of driving social progress through investment, Dingxin Capital focuses on early-stage, specialized investments in healthcare and hard technology. It has led or participated in the early-stage financing of over 40 high-quality projects and has been ranked among prominent industry lists, including “China’s Best Early-Stage Venture Capital Firms,” “Best Investment Institutions in Healthcare,” and “China’s Best Early-Stage Investment Institutions in Semiconductors and Integrated Circuits.” Dingxin Capital’s current assets under management exceed RMB 10 billion. Its limited partners include institutional investors such as government guidance funds, insurance companies, listed companies and their shareholders, large enterprise groups, and market-oriented funds of funds. In 2021 and 2022, Dingxin Capital was consecutively included in the highest A-tier evaluation list for equity fund managers eligible for insurance capital investment.