D2M Biotherapeutics Secures $20 Million Series A1 Financing to Advance Genetics-Driven Oncology and Immunology Pipeline

VCBeat learns at the first opportunity，D2M Biotherapeutics (“D2M Bio”) announced the completion of its Series A1 financing round, raising nearly $20 million. The round was led by LapamCapital, with participation from Delian Capital. The proceeds will be primarily used to advance its pipeline and build out its technology platform. Xingyuan Zhitong served as the exclusive financial advisor for this transaction.

Dr. Bing Nan, Co-founder and CEO of D2M Biotherapeutics, expressed his sincere gratitude to investors for their recognition and support of D2M Biotherapeutics amid the current challenging market environment. Since its inception, D2M Biotherapeutics has built a target discovery platform based on human disease genetics data and rapidly established its own pipeline. Two of its leading projects are expected to enter clinical trials in 2023, fully demonstrating the efficiency of D2M Biotherapeutics’ platform and the execution capability of its team. We firmly believe that D2M Biotherapeutics’ platform can effectively improve the success rate of drug development and establish a reproducible pathway for new drug discovery. We also hope to foster extensive collaborations with more industry peers on our platform, working together to provide more effective treatment options to address the unmet clinical needs of patients worldwide.

Human genetics, represented by disease genomic data, is a goldmine for discovering drug targets. Scientists have endured nearly two decades of ups and downs in their arduous efforts to mine this resource. With the accumulation of data and methodological innovations, the industry has recognized that human genetics can effectively improve the success rate of drug development, garnering increasing attention in new drug R&D.D2M Biotherapeutics was co-founded in late 2020 by Dr. Bing Nan, former Senior Director of Human Genetics Target Discovery at Pfizer US, and Dr. Zhang Dong, former Director of Oncology Immunology at Merck KGaA (Germany). It is a platform-based innovative pharmaceutical company driven by big data in human genetics for target discovery and drug development. The English name “D2M” stands for “Data to Medicine.” In Chinese, “Dan” refers to elixirs or miracle cures, while “Ma” refers to codes or ciphers. The company is committed to exploring a path of source innovation starting from genetic big data, deciphering the code of new drug creation, and breaking through the industry bottleneck of low clinical success rates in global innovative drug development.

It is reported that Danma Bio has established its proprietary GAMID® (Genetics-centric And Multi-omics Integrated Data) target discovery platform. Based on massive amounts of human disease genome-wide association study (GWAS) data, the platform integrates multi-omics data, including the growing datasets from proteome-wide and transcriptome-wide GWAS. It systematically applies large-scale Mendelian Randomization virtual clinical trials to identify and validate novel drug targets. Coupled with its in-house antibody development system, Danma Bio has built a macromolecular drug R&D platform focused on tumor immunology, the tumor microenvironment, and autoimmune diseases.

Leveraging D2M Biotherapeutics’ proprietary technology platform, the company has established a pipeline of more than eight candidates targeting oncology and autoimmune diseases, each with the potential to become a first-in-class (FIC) therapy or a product with strong differentiating effects. Preclinical data for the first two pipeline candidates were presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting in April 2022 and the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) Annual Meeting in November 2022, drawing significant industry attention. This financing round marks D2M Biotherapeutics’ first external private equity fundraising since emerging from stealth mode following angel investments from Xingze Capital and China Antibody (HK.03681), and it has garnered recognition from top-tier domestic healthcare funds.

Mr. Yu Zhihua, Founding Partner of LapamCapital, stated: “Target identification and new drug development based on human disease genetics data have, to some extent, increased the probability of success for first-in-class products; indeed, many drugs currently approved by the FDA are supported by human genetic evidence. Dr. Bing Ma and Dr. Zhang’s core R&D team possesses extensive industry experience, enabling them to leverage GWAS and Mendelian randomization studies for target validation while rapidly advancing their product pipeline to demonstrate the advantages of their molecular candidates. We look forward to seeing Danma Biotherapeutics’ products enter early-stage clinical trials, thereby serving a broader patient population.”

Mr. He Xiaopeng, Investment Director at Delian Capital, stated: "While new mechanisms of action continue to emerge in the field of innovative drug development, potentially viable new targets remain scarce, leading to crowded R&D efforts focused on the same targets. In recent years, with the substantial generation of human genetics and other functional omics data, the use of human genetics for novel target discovery has gradually gained recognition among top-tier innovative pharmaceutical companies such as Regeneron and Alnylam, with several products already advanced to late-stage clinical trials. D2M Biotherapeutics possesses extensive industry experience in leveraging human genetics for novel target discovery. Since its inception, the company has established a high-caliber team dedicated to biological mechanism validation and antibody development, thereby creating an integrated end-to-end pipeline spanning from target identification to biological mechanism validation and antibody development. We look forward to the company’s continued discovery and validation of promising new targets, resulting in the translation of more first-in-class therapies to benefit a broader patient population."

Mr. Fu Jia, Managing Director of Xingyuan Zhitong, stated: “Human genetics has always been highly valued by the pharmaceutical industry and the scientific community; however, identifying methodological pathways to truly unlock its value has been an arduous and lengthy endeavor. Today, as data and methodologies continue to mature, multinational corporations (MNCs) and specialized funds are increasingly investing in this sector. Danma Bio possesses the foundational strengths and team capable of becoming a global leader in genetics-driven innovative drug R&D. With the support of this round of financing, we look forward to successfully advancing our first-mover pipeline into clinical stages, positioning the company as a pioneer in the creation of novel therapeutics targeting genetics-validated targets.”

D2M Biotherapeutics (D2M) was founded in 2020 by Dr. Bing Nan, former Senior Director of Human Genetics Target Discovery at Pfizer, and Dr. Zhang Dong, former Director of Oncology Immunology at Merck KGaA, Germany. D2M Biotherapeutics has assembled a team of scientists with extensive industry experience and profound academic backgrounds, covering the entire value chain from target discovery and validation through big data analysis of genomics to the development, verification, and manufacturing of large-molecule drugs. By leveraging its proprietary genomics data analysis platform, D2M Biotherapeutics aims to identify highly credible novel targets, develop high-quality drug molecules, enhance clinical success rates, achieve sustained source innovation, and bring safer and more effective treatment options to patients as soon as possible.

LapamCapital, headquartered in Beijing, is a leading biomedical venture capital firm in China. Currently, LapamCapital manages five RMB funds and one USD fund, with total assets under management exceeding RMB 10 billion. The firm focuses on investments in innovative drugs and innovative medical devices, primarily targeting start-up, early, and growth-stage companies. To date, it has invested in more than 60 innovative drug companies and over 10 innovative medical device companies, including numerous standout projects such as Beta Pharma (SZ.300558), RemeGen (SH.688331), Clover Biopharmaceuticals (HK.02197), Yihua Pharmaceutical (SH.688176), Stemirna Therapeutics, BinHui Biotherapeutics, ImmuneOnco, Huahao Zhongtian, and Aier Eye Hospital Group’s subsidiary Aibo Medical (SH.688050). Many partners in LapamCapital’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 focused on the technology and innovative healthcare sectors, with a particular emphasis on early-stage, technology-driven projects. Its investment portfolio spans sub-sectors including semiconductors, intelligent equipment, cloud-native technologies, novel therapies, and IBAT. The firm has invested in over 100 companies, such as Yeestor Microelectronics, Chipown Technology, Nanjing Hongtai, Inceptio Technology, Rokae Technology, Mech-Mind Robotics, Fit2Cloud, Venus Medtech, Amunix, Gaocheng Biology, Zhishan Weixin, and ChenAn Biologics.

StartPointAdvisors is a financial advisory firm specializing in the healthcare and medical industry. Established in 2020, its team members hail from renowned institutions within the sector and possess extensive professional experience. Headquartered in Beijing, StartPointAdvisors maintains offices in Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou, and Guangzhou. Since its inception, the company has achieved comprehensive coverage across the healthcare and medical landscape, earning a strong professional reputation and acclaim within the industry. It is currently recognized as one of the most representative emerging investment banks in China’s healthcare and medical sector.