Ketu Medicine Completes Tens of Millions RMB Financing to Accelerate Commercialization of Organoid Technology

Recently, K2 Oncology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “K2 Oncology”) announced the completion of a new round of financing amounting to tens of millions of RMB. This round was invested by Fangfu Capital, with Zhongguancun Industrial Research Institute serving as the exclusive financial advisor. The proceeds from this financing will be primarily used to upgrade its preclinical toxicology and pharmacology platform, conduct multi-dimensional data mining of organoids, and expand market presence.

K2 Oncology, established in 2016, is a national high-tech enterprise dedicated to the research, development, and translation of organoid technologies. The company has made in-depth strategic investments in the organoid field, covering upstream R&D and manufacturing of reagents and consumables, disease models and databases, clinical medical testing, drug discovery, and translational medicine CRO services.

Dr. Sun Zhijian, Founder of K2 OncologyIt stated: “The demand for innovation in new drug development is increasingly stringent, and pharmaceutical companies are progressively increasing their investments in preclinical drug discovery and translational medicine. However, the efficiency and success rate of preclinical proof-of-concept (PoC) studies for innovative drugs still require improvement. In particular, the development of drugs targeting novel mechanisms and employing new therapeutic modalities (such as Cell and Gene Therapy [CGT] and RNA-based therapies) often lacks disease models with high clinical translational efficiency. Adhering to the philosophy of ‘from disease, to disease,’ K2 Oncology Co., Ltd. continues to develop an organoid-based toxicological and pharmacological evaluation platform characterized by high disease diversity and high clinical translational efficiency. By integrating a multidimensional model database with specialized toxicological and pharmacological service capabilities, the company aims to accelerate the drug development process and enhance clinical translational efficiency.”

Zhang Hui, Partner at Fangfu CapitalIt stated: “With the rapid development of China’s pharmaceutical industry in recent years, traditional in vitro cell lines and animal models have become increasingly inadequate to meet the growing validation demands of innovative drug R&D. As an emerging in vitro evaluation platform, organoids demonstrate superior potential over existing methodologies in terms of throughput, cost, and other factors, and have been validated in numerous research and clinical projects in recent years. The core team at K2 Oncology Co., Ltd. possesses many years of experience in organoid research and has established an industry-leading technical service platform, which has gained recognition and adoption from many well-known pharmaceutical companies and hospitals.”

“As an early-stage biomedical investment firm focused on the CGT and CXO sectors, Fangfu Capital has invested in numerous industry-leading projects. Fangfu Capital is optimistic about the long-term driving force that innovative life science tools bring to the pharmaceutical industry. We look forward to working with K2 Oncology to continue supporting pharmaceutical R&D and hospital-based scientific research services in the field of organoids.”

Currently, K2 Oncology has achieved financial self-sufficiency through its key organoid reagents and in vitro and in vivo pharmacology services, entering a virtuous cycle where the accelerated development of disease model libraries and databases mutually reinforces its preclinical toxicology and pharmacology services.

This is primarily attributable to K2 Oncology’s patented human tumor organoid culture platform, established through secretome library screening, and the localization of upstream core reagents. As a result, K2 Oncology enjoys significant advantages in library construction efficiency and cost-effectiveness. The company has assisted numerous hospitals in establishing live organoid biobanks and supported more than 10 clinical studies, benefiting many patients. Meanwhile, by building an innovative service platform for anti-cancer drug development, K2 Oncology supports pharmaceutical companies and research institutions in their R&D efforts. It provides preclinical “clinically mimetic” efficacy evaluation, biomarker discovery, and tumor immunotherapy drug discovery services, facilitating multiple domestic and international regulatory submissions for clinical trials and thereby reducing R&D costs and the risk of clinical failure.

Furthermore, K2 Oncology is transitioning to a new drug discovery model driven by the dual engines of disease models and data mining, unlocking future growth potential.

Zhongguancun Industrial Research Institute, a subsidiary of Zhongguancun Development Group, is a technology and industrial knowledge operator specializing in new technologies, new industries, and the new economy. In the healthcare sector, the Institute focuses on premium investment banking services and has pioneered the “1+N” service system. Ranging from capital support centered on private equity financing and mergers and acquisitions to comprehensive empowerment addressing key factors critical to corporate survival and development, the Institute strives to serve as a provider of strategic insights, an enabler of capital operations, a connector of resource elements, and a facilitator of industrial implementation.