Rongcan Bio Completes Tens of Millions RMB Pre-A Financing to Accelerate mRNA Drug Innovation

In November 2022, Rongcan Biomedical Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. completed its Pre-A round of financing, raising tens of millions of yuan, led by a well-known professional healthcare investment fund.

Rongcan Biomedical is dedicated to the development and industrialization of gene (nucleic acid) therapeutics. Leveraging its founding team’s successful design and development of lipid nanoparticle (LNP) vectors with independent intellectual property rights, the company has established itself as a nucleic acid R&D enterprise with a robust LNP patent moat in China. Rongcan Biomedical has achieved simultaneous breakthroughs in patents covering cationic lipid structures, formulation component ratios, and therapeutic indications. It has developed an independently owned, commercially viable LNP delivery system and completed global freedom-to-operate (FTO) analyses, securing the right to operate freely on a worldwide scale.

Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), as one of the most mature delivery systems currently employed in mRNA drug research and application, offer numerous advantages, including high encapsulation efficiency, superior cellular transfection efficiency, strong tissue penetration, and low cytotoxicity and immunogenicity. They have already been successfully utilized in multiple commercialized products.

Currently, Rongcan Biomedical has achieved a breakthrough in extrahepatic organ targeting with lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), making it one of the few domestic R&D enterprises capable of developing LNPs that target vascular atherosclerotic plaques and lung tissue. Preclinical studies have validated that the company’s LNP platform enables specific extrahepatic targeted delivery and demonstrates excellent therapeutic efficacy in animal models.

“This round of financing will enable Rongcan Biotechnology to accelerate product development and team building, and advance our leading pipeline candidates into clinical studies,” said the founder of Rongcan Biotechnology. “We are honored to receive support from professional healthcare investment funds in this round. The application prospects of mRNA technology are extensive; for mRNA R&D enterprises, independently developed delivery systems represent one of the most challenging technical hurdles at present. We believe that only by prioritizing source innovation, enhancing our technological capabilities, and building a full-industry-chain platform can we secure a position in the global mRNA race.” With decades of experience in nucleic acid drug R&D, the Rongcan Biotechnology team has established a truly independent and innovative R&D platform for nucleic acid delivery vectors. The company is currently collaborating with renowned domestic vaccine manufacturers and research institutions, with the aim of further benefiting patients.

Rongcan Biomedical Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. was established in June 2020 as a Sino-foreign joint venture founded by senior overseas-returnee PhDs, renowned professors, and domestic expert teams. Dedicated to the development and industrialization of gene (nucleic acid) therapeutics, Rongcan has established a comprehensive R&D system covering mRNA sequence design and synthesis processes, lipid chemistry, LNP formulation development and scale-up processes, analytical method development and validation, and biological evaluation platforms. The company operates GMP-compliant pilot production lines for mRNA drug substance and LNP formulations, with a total area of approximately 4,000 square meters, meeting the requirements for IND-enabling studies and the production of clinical Phase I–II trial materials.

The company’s core experts boast over a decade of market-oriented R&D experience in nucleic acid delivery vectors, constituting China’s premier R&D team with independent intellectual property rights in this field. They have established a nucleic acid delivery technology platform with fully autonomous intellectual property. In addition to its applicability in vaccine development, this delivery platform has overcome the common limitation of hepatic accumulation associated with nucleic acid delivery, enabling specific targeted delivery to atherosclerotic plaques and hepatic stellate cells. Furthermore, the team has developed China’s first inhalable nucleic acid nano-delivery system for pulmonary administration.

Currently, Rongcan Biomedical Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. is collaborating with leading domestic vaccine companies and research institutions by leveraging its internationally competitive nucleic acid delivery vector technology and mRNA biotechnology platform, achieving strategic growth through various models such as technology licensing, collaborative development, and revenue sharing.