Nanjing Pregene Biotechnology Secures Nearly RMB 100 Million in Series Angel Funding to Accelerate Next-Generation Molecular Diagnostics

VCBeat has learned that Nanjing Puji Biotech Co., Ltd. (“Puji Biotech”) recently announced the completion of its angel financing round, raising nearly RMB 100 million. The round was co-led by Vertex Ventures and Shijie Venture Capital. The funds raised will be used to advance the research and development of its core technologies, product registration and approval applications, and commercial promotion.

Puji Bio focuses on the development, production, and sales of next-generation molecular diagnostic IVD kits and supporting instruments. The company’s core ultra-multiplex molecular amplification technology enables rapid, low-cost implementation on digital PCR platforms of clinical applications that were previously feasible only on NGS (next-generation sequencing) platforms, delivering significant social and economic benefits.

Mr. Mao Lin, Founder and Chairman of Puji Biologicsstated: “Puji Biologics is a truly innovative technology enterprise with original, foundational technological innovations, possessing scarcity both in China and worldwide. From the very first day of our founding, we have made ‘# Combating Inequality with Technology to Benefit the Most Disadvantaged“Identifying this as our mission fills every day with passion. What we are doing is not ‘seeking immortality elixirs for Qin Shi Huang’ or helping the wealthy live to a hundred, but rather enabling the most economically disadvantaged populations to minimize the risk of birth defects and to benefit from precision medicine when diagnosed with cancer.”The company’s current product pipeline strategically focuses on three key areas of public welfare: oncology diagnosis and treatment, birth defect screening, and the prevention and control of infectious diseases.“Puji Biotech aims to promote the compliance and widespread adoption of genetic testing products through technological innovation, ultimately delivering public goods that benefit the entire population by collaborating with social forces such as medical insurance programs and charitable organizations.”

Dr. Shang Wu, Co-founder and CEO of Puji Biologicsstated: “Nucleic acid molecule amplification is the core component and cornerstone of molecular diagnostics. The biggest challenge in nucleic acid amplification technology has always been how to simultaneously achieve specific amplification and detection of multiple target fragments within a single reaction environment. As the number of targets increases, the entire reaction system becomes highly unstable, generating substantial amounts of non-specific products that interfere with final test results. Puji Biotechnology’s core technology can thoroughly resolve this technical challenge, enablingThe number of nucleic acid templates in a single reaction environment has increased by two orders of magnitude, enabling digital PCR platforms to achieve virtually unlimited information throughput across all current common clinical application scenarios, with the potential to reshape the landscape of the molecular diagnostics industry.。”

Dr. Wang Hanming, Senior Investment Manager at Vertex Venturesstated: “Puji Bio is a molecular diagnostics company that truly possesses foundational technological innovations. We believe that the widespread application of gene sequencing technology in basic research and clinical practice will profoundly transform the landscape of clinical diagnosis and prognosis.”Puji Bio’s high-sensitivity, ultra-multiplex, low-cost, and hospital-accessible testing platform is well-suited for converting certain NGS achievements into IVD products.Although there are now numerous companies manufacturing digital PCR instruments, even the most advanced platform is ineffective without suitable assays. Initially, based on prior experience and expert opinions within the industry, we believed that achieving ultra-multiplex detection solely through a PCR platform posed excessive technical challenges. However, through multiple blinded trials using clinical samples, we have validated that our company can achieve stable amplification of hundreds of loci within a single reaction system and deliver reliable results via digital PCR. We hope this technological innovation will not only make multi-mutation site detection in tumors and non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) affordable IVD products accessible to all patients, but also bring high-frequency monitoring of tumor minimal residual disease (MRD) into routine clinical practice.

Mr. Sun Zhe, Managing Partner of Shijie Venture Capitalstated: “PCR technology has extensive and mature application scenarios; however, it is extremely rare to achieve original, breakthrough innovations in the underlying biochemical reaction mechanisms, especially when integrating suchThe application of foundational innovations to ultra-multiplex detection scenarios has significantly improved the accessibility of testing procedures that were previously complex and costly.benefiting a broader patient population. From both commercial and social value perspectives, Puji Biologics is an innovative enterprise well worth investing in.”

Puji Bio was founded in 2019 as an innovative technology enterprise dedicated to the development, manufacturing, and sales of next-generation molecular diagnostic kits and associated instruments. Headquartered in the “Gene City” section of the Nanjing Jiangbei New Area Bio-pharmaceutical Valley, Puji Bio maintains offices in Beijing, Shanghai, and overseas. Several founding team members hold PhDs from top U.S. universities and have previously served at prestigious Chinese universities, leading biopharmaceutical companies, and investment firms. They bring a broad international perspective, strong management capabilities, solid academic backgrounds, and extensive industry experience. Currently, Puji Bio is actively collaborating with multiple renowned Grade A tertiary hospitals and testing institutions in China to develop commercial products in three key areas: tumor diagnosis and treatment, birth defect screening, and infectious disease prevention and control.

Vertex Ventures, established in 1988, is one of Asia’s earliest venture capital firms and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings. Headquartered in Singapore, Vertex Ventures maintains branches in entrepreneurial hubs such as China, the United States, Israel, and India. Vertex Ventures China launched its early-stage venture capital operations in China in 2008. With offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Singapore, it manages multiple USD and RMB funds, with assets under management exceeding RMB 10 billion. Vertex Ventures China has made extensive investments in the healthcare sector, including portfolio companies such as Chipscreen Biosciences, Harbour BioMed, Phoenix Healthcare Group, Recbio Technology, Edge Medical, BinHui Biotech, Ruijian Medical, Innovance Therapeutics, Rigel Pharmaceuticals (Note: Context suggests a different entity, likely Regor Pharmaceuticals or similar, but based on common translations, "RuiGe" is often transliterated; however, given the list, it refers to specific Chinese startups), Baoyuan Biopharma, Jiuno Medical, Xingkangyuan, Puling Biologics, Chengfan Medical, Huaxia Yingtai, Yuanjian Youke, and Haici Medical.

Shijie Venture Capital is a venture capital fund focused on early-stage innovative companies in the life and health sector, dedicated to identifying and nurturing revolutionary and disruptive technologies. By collaborating closely with industry partners, the fund connects its portfolio companies with essential resources, accelerates their growth, and promotes the industrialization of their technologies. Its primary investment areas include biopharmaceuticals, CXO (CRO/CDMO), reagents and consumables, instruments and equipment, advanced cell and gene therapies, and pharmaceutical digitalization. Shijie Venture Capital’s portfolio includes outstanding biotechnology enterprises such as GemPharmatech, Dingtai Pharmaceutical Research, Pinsheng Medical, Porton Biopharma, and Puji Biology.