NeuExcell Therapeutics Secures Over RMB 100 Million in Pre-A+ Financing to Advance In Situ Neuroregeneration Platform

VCBeat has learned that NeuExcell Therapeutics, a technology innovation company focused on nerve injury and degenerative diseases, has recently completed a Pre-A+ financing round exceeding RMB 100 million. Investors in this round include Zhangke Lingyi, Jimin Kexin, Haixi New Drug, Leading Venture Capital, Suxin Yihe, Huiju Xinxiang, Zhongke Kechuang, and Hongshi Capital. Joywise Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor for this financing round.

Dr. Yin Xudong, Chairman of the Board of Directors of NeuExcell Therapeutics“We are delighted to have gained investors’ recognition during the capital winter. Investor support will help the company apply its proprietary neuroregenerative therapy platform technology to treat a variety of neurodegenerative diseases and conditions caused by nerve injury. The strong response to this financing round reflects investors’ endorsement of the company’s strategy and technological advancement.”

Professor Gong Chen, Founder and Chief Scientific Advisor of the CompanyHe stated, “This round of financing will accelerate the clinical translation of our in situ neuroregeneration technology, bringing effective treatments to tens of millions of patients worldwide. The field of neurological disorders urgently needs breakthrough technologies like ours to reverse neurological deficits caused by neuronal death through in situ neuroregeneration. We are committed to working with both new and existing investors to pioneer a new frontier in neuroregeneration, ensuring that patients suffering from neurological diseases both in China and abroad have access to effective therapies. We welcome more investors to join this emerging sector, helping to transform the groundbreaking technology of in situ neuroregeneration into a portfolio of breakthrough therapies at an earlier stage.”

NeuExcell Therapeutics (Shenxi Bio) is a globally leading innovative biotechnology company that utilizes in situ neuroregeneration technology to treat neural injuries and degenerative diseases, with subsidiaries in the United States and China. Its founder, Professor Gong Chen, is an internationally renowned expert in regenerative medicine and one of the pioneers worldwide in directly converting endogenous astrocytes into functional neurons in situ within the brains of adult mammals. The executive team comprises professionals from globally prominent pharmaceutical companies such as Novartis, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Sanofi, and Spark, bringing extensive experience in industrialization.

The company has established a globally leading in situ neuroregeneration technology platform. Built upon the pioneering research by Professor Chen Gong’s team on the in situ transdifferentiation of glial cells into neurons, the platform utilizes viral vectors such as AAV to express neural transcription factors, directly converting endogenous astrocytes into long-term functional neurons in situ, thereby achieving neural repair. NeuExcell’s product pipeline covers major neurological injuries and neurodegenerative diseases, including stroke, glioma, Huntington’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, and ophthalmic disorders. This core technology has also gained recognition from Spark Therapeutics, a subsidiary of the internationally renowned pharmaceutical company Roche. The two parties have entered into a $190 million collaborative development agreement to jointly develop therapeutics for Huntington’s disease using the company’s innovative technology platform. Spark has independently replicated the results of in situ transdifferentiation, which will accelerate the progression toward clinical development.

Dr. Xia Lei, Managing Partner at Zhangke LingyiIt was stated that the irreversibility of neuronal loss is a key reason why many neurological diseases remain difficult to cure. Professor Chen Gong has applied in situ transdifferentiation technology to neuronal regeneration, achieving exciting research results and opening up an entirely new direction for curing neurological disorders. Zhang Ke Lingyi continues to focus on source innovation technologies in the biopharmaceutical field and is pleased to have the opportunity to support the clinical translation of in situ neuronal regeneration technology. We believe that, under the leadership of the company’s founding team, this breakthrough therapy will enter clinical practice soon, benefiting patients.

Mr. Huang Lianghui, Vice Chairman of Jimin Kexin and General Manager of the Capital Development CenterIt was stated that as a renowned modern health industry group in China, Jimin Kexin adheres to its corporate mission of “Benefiting the World and People, Upholding Trust Worldwide,” focusing on innovation-driven development and accelerating transformation and upgrading. Jimin Kexin Investment fully integrates industrial advantageous resources with market-oriented characteristics, multi-dimensionally identifying leading enterprises with outstanding technologies and products in promising segments of the broader health sector. It leverages its industrial strengths to accompany and empower portfolio companies for mutual growth, striving wholeheartedly to facilitate higher-quality development of China’s health industry. Neuexcell (Shenxi Biopharma), building on Professor Chen Gong’s team’s extensive expertise in neural regeneration over many years, has developed an in situ neural transdifferentiation technology that is internationally leading, with a mature technological platform and broad application prospects. Neuexcell brings together top-tier talent with both scientific and industrial backgrounds, boasting an exceptionally capable team. The company’s products are dedicated to solving the global challenge of repairing irreversible nerve damage, holding promise for radically curing various diseases caused by loss of neural function, representing products of epoch-making significance.

Dr. Xinshan Kang, Founder of Haixi New Drugstated, “We are delighted to participate in this round of financing for NeuExcell. We are highly optimistic about the significant scientific implications and commercial value of in situ neuroregeneration. As one of the pioneers who first demonstrated the direct in situ transdifferentiation of endogenous glial cells into functional neurons in adult mammals, Professor Gong Chen’s groundbreaking research is poised to usher this emerging field into a period of robust growth. We also look forward to the company’s continued expansion in the field of neuroregeneration, bringing benefits to patients at the earliest possible date.”

Ms. Tao Shanshan, Head of Investment Department I at Lingjun Venture CapitalIt was stated that NeuExcell has built a globally leading in situ neuroregeneration technology platform, which holds promise for addressing key clinical challenges in the treatment of various neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease, and stroke. The market potential and social significance are substantial. Leading Capital highly appreciates the background of the project’s founder and team, is optimistic about the prospects of the project platform, and believes that its collaboration with NeuExcell further enhances the biomedical industry ecosystem in Suzhou Industrial Park while boosting regional innovation capabilities. Moving forward, Leading Capital will continue to integrate resources from all parties to jointly support the rapid development of NeuExcell.

Su Xinyi and the Investment TeamNeurological disorders have long remained one of the most formidable challenges in medicine. We believe that NeuExcell’s proprietary neural regeneration platform and innovative therapies represent highly promising tools to combat these conditions. Professor Gong Chen’s profound scientific expertise, combined with the company’s passionate international team, has further strengthened our confidence. NeuExcell has established its China R&D headquarters in Suzhou, and we highly recognize the advancement of its technology and its product development strategy. We also hope that more investors will turn their attention to the field of neurology, support NeuExcell, and join the fight against neurological diseases.

Gathering Rising Star PartnersNeuExcell stated that its in situ neuroregeneration technology, as a frontier area in the biopharmaceutical industry, offers new approaches for addressing certain neurodegenerative diseases and demonstrates the clinical potential of next-generation therapeutic solutions. The founding team of NeuExcell has accumulated extensive technical expertise over many years in neuroscience and neuron conversion via overexpression of transcription factors. They aim to achieve new breakthroughs in the field of neurological disorders, thereby benefiting patients both in China and abroad at an earlier date.

Mr. Xie Yong, CEO of Zhongke Kechuang, Member of the Advisory Committee of the Sixth Council of the Jinan University Alumni Association, and Founding Chairman of the Investment Advisory Committee of the Jinan University Education Development FoundationIt was announced that Zhongke Kechuang, in collaboration with Jinan University and the Guangzhou Financial Holdings Group’s Sci-Tech Innovation Fund of Funds, jointly established the Greater Bay Area’s first technology transfer fund for achievements from universities and research institutes—the Jike Fund. NeuExcell (Shenxi Biologics) brings together top international experts in neural regeneration and a specialized team for the industrialization of gene therapy. As a benchmark project for university-based technology commercialization invested in by the Jike Fund, Zhongke Kechuang will leverage the biopharmaceutical industry cluster advantages of the Greater Bay Area. Together with industrial investment partners of the Jike Fund—including leading pharmaceutical companies such as ChemPartner, Huazhen Biotechnology, and Lion Pharmaceutical—it will provide comprehensive, full-chain, and all-factor empowerment services to support the successful commercialization of technological achievements.

Mr. Chen Zhan, Executive Partner at Hongshi CapitalNeuExcell is a rare biotechnology investment target in the field of neurological disorders. We are honored to support NeuExcell through our investment, helping it maintain its industry leadership and ultimately conquer significant challenges in the history of human medicine. In 2013, Professor Chen Gong’s team first used the neural transcription factor NeuroD1 to directly reprogram endogenous glial cells into functional neurons in situ in mice. They subsequently achieved another global first by directly converting glial cells into neurons in situ within the brains of non-human primates. We have full confidence in the R&D and operational capabilities of NeuExcell’s teams in China and the United States. We look forward to the company becoming the first in the world to gain regulatory approval for this class of therapeutics in the near future, bringing hope to patients with neurological deficits worldwide.

Li Yishi, Senior Partner at Haoyue CapitalWe are honored to have served as the exclusive financial advisor to NeuExcell for this round of financing, assisting the company in successfully completing the transaction. As research findings from an increasing number of international teams in this field continue to be disclosed, the area of in situ neuroregeneration is entering a new era of development. We firmly believe in the groundbreaking potential of Professor Chen Gong’s pioneering in situ transdifferentiation technology. His latest research provides compelling evidence—such as two-photon in vivo imaging observations demonstrating the direct conversion of astrocytes into neurons—which has cleared up previous uncertainties surrounding transdifferentiation. This approach has already achieved successful functional repair in multiple neurological disease models, showcasing significant therapeutic potential for neurodegenerative diseases and conditions related to neural injury. We look forward to seeing the company accelerate its pipeline development with capital support, thereby providing patients with better treatment options at an earlier stage.