Meifengli Medical Completes Series A Funding Round of RMB 100 Million to Advance Global-Leading Large Animal Preclinical Research Platforms

VCBeat has learned that Jiangsu Meifengli Medical Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Meifengli”) has completed its latest round of financing. Led by a leading top-tier domestic fund, the total transaction amount reached hundreds of millions of yuan. The funds will be used to advance the operation of the Suzhou preclinical GLP laboratory platform (Suzhou Jinyi Medical Technology Co., Ltd.) and the construction of the Taizhou Phase II preclinical laboratory platform, further enhancing Meifengli’s service capabilities.

Meifengli was founded in 2018 at China Medical City in Taizhou, Jiangsu Province, by a team of renowned domestic physicians led by Dr. Wei Xufeng. It is a comprehensive large-animal experimental center specializing in preclinical research on medical devices.

Since its establishment, Meifengli has completed preclinical animal studies for over 300 innovative medical device products. Several of these products are first-of-their-kind in China, and more than ten have passed the review through the Innovative Medical Device Approval Pathway. The company has gained recognition and established collaborative partnerships with the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA), multiple provincial-level medical device testing institutes, and professional third-party testing organizations.

A professional technical team is the guarantee of Meifengli's strong business capabilities.Dr. Wei Xufeng, the team leader, is a renowned cardiovascular surgeon at a leading hospital in China. He has long conducted preclinical large-animal studies for high-end medical devices for the U.S. FDA in the United States, completing Good Laboratory Practice (GLP)-compliant preclinical large-animal studies of globally innovative artificial heart and artificial lung products for FDA submission. He brings over 20 years of experience in clinical medicine and large-animal experimentation.

Meifengli has assembled an international team of research-oriented medical professionals, bringing together nearly 100 PhD-holding clinicians from renowned hospitals both domestically and internationally. Covering all clinical specialties, the team is capable of conducting preclinical large-animal studies for all categories of medical devices.

Since officially launching animal experiments in October 2018, Meifengli has undertaken more than 300 experimental projects for clients including numerous domestically listed companies, key research institutes, and foreign innovative enterprises. These projects involve cutting-edge international innovative products such as implantable artificial hearts, extracorporeal ventricular assist devices, transcatheter heart valves, novel therapies for heart failure, and venous radiofrequency ablation systems.

Currently, the team has completed animal trials for more than 20 innovative products in the fields of artificial hearts and ECMO, establishing itself as one of the most mature preclinical evaluation teams globally. In the area of animal trials for surgical and interventional cardiac valves, it is the team with the highest surgical success rate and is capable of performing highly complex procedures such as total aortic arch replacement and heart transplantation.

In 2022 alone, Meifengli Laboratory completed over 1,800 various types of experiments, including more than 400 interventional valve tests with a success rate exceeding 80%, and over 200 surgical valve tests with a success rate as high as 90%, firmly placing it among the global industry leaders. After four years of development, the laboratory is now capable of conducting preclinical animal studies across all categories of medical devices, including cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, orthopedic, new materials, dermatological, and surgical robotics. Furthermore, it can establish large-animal disease models for conditions such as acute and chronic heart failure, cerebrovascular lesions, neuropathy, and tumors, to evaluate medical devices and innovative drugs.

In 2023, Suzhou Jinyi Medical Technology Co., Ltd.’s advanced 4,700-square-meter experimental platform, located in the Suzhou Industrial Park, will officially commence operations in March. At that time, Meifengli and Suzhou Jinyi will be equipped with high-end facilities including a 128-slice CT scanner, Philips’ globally leading 7B20 (dual C-arm) DSA system, and the Philips EPIQ 7C cardiac ultrasound system. The facility will feature five hybrid DSA operating rooms, three transplant operating rooms, six general surgical operating rooms, eight ICU beds, an endoscopic training center, and a surgical robot training center, along with the world’s most advanced cardiac electrophysiology system.

The new laboratory in Suzhou will utilize a self-developed wireless vital signs acquisition system to further enhance postoperative ICU monitoring for animals, becoming the world’s first laboratory capable of continuous, round-the-clock monitoring of vital signs in large animals. The 12,800-square-meter Phase II new experimental facility at the Taizhou headquarters is also set to be completed and is expected to become operational by the end of the year, at which point it will house more than 3,000 cages for large animals such as pigs, sheep, dogs, and monkeys.

Meifengli and Suzhou Jinyi, as public service platforms for medical research based on large animal experiments, will provide multiple comprehensive preclinical evaluation services to research institutes and pharmaceutical and medical device enterprises.

Upon completion of the GLP system establishment at the new Suzhou laboratory, preclinical animal studies and in vitro testing reports will also be provided to medical device companies to meet FDA and CE certification requirements for medical device registration.

In addition, Meifengli has jointly established the China Medical City Medical Device In Vitro Testing Laboratory and the Preclinical Research Basic Medicine Laboratory with the Taizhou Institute of Southeast University and the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB). These laboratories expand the scope of services and evaluations for medical devices by conducting in vitro tests, such as the analysis and performance testing of metallic and non-metallic materials used in medical devices. They provide testing services, including hemolysis performance assessments, to medical device companies specializing in products such as heart valves, artificial hearts, and orthopedic implants, both domestically and internationally. This comprehensive and advanced testing system ensures the efficacy and safety of these products.