GreatBay Bio Secures Nearly $10 Million Series A Funding Led by Bilingual Star Ventures and Hillhouse Capital to Accelerate Commercialization of AI-Driven Biologics Platforms

Dawan Bio Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Dawan Bio”) recently announced the completion of its Series A financing round, raising nearly $10 million. The round was oversubscribed and expanded in size, co-led by Proxima Capital and GL Ventures, with participation from Aaron Capital and additional investments from existing investors including the Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund. This financing will accelerate the global innovation of Dawan Bio’s three major artificial intelligence platforms: the intelligent cell line development platform Klone4.0™ and the intelligent cell line stability prediction platform AlfaStaX.^®with the intelligent culture medium development platform AlfaMedX^®the commercialization process.

Klone4.0™, an intelligent cell line development platform, is a critical step in biopharmaceutical CMC development, enabling precise screening of high-yield monoclonal cells within 4 hours. AlfaStaX, a cell line stability prediction platform^®Leveraging the advantages of artificial intelligence algorithms, AlfaMedX predicts 90-day cell line stability based on 15-day data, enabling passage stability predictions for all candidate cell lines within two weeks. This enhances R&D efficiency and mitigates development risks. Intelligent Media Development Platform: AlfaMedX^®By leveraging AI algorithms such as big data mining, deep machine learning, and transfer learning to build culture media formulation models, this approach replaces traditional Design of Experiments (DOE) and metabolic analysis. It enables the development of customized culture media formulations for client cell lines in a short period, significantly reducing development time and costs. Since their launch, these platforms have successively signed contracts with renowned pharmaceutical companies and leading CDMO platforms both domestically and internationally, receiving widespread acclaim.

Liang Guolong, Chairman and Co-Founder of Dawan Biostated, “Securing support from top-tier investors in the biotechnology sector is a significant endorsement of our technology and brings a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem to Greater Bay Bio, driving its future development. Furthermore, we welcome Proxima Capital and GL Ventures’ biotech investment professionals to join the Board of Directors of Greater Bay Bio. Both are seasoned industry experts with a combined 40+ years of experience, and their addition will further propel Greater Bay Bio’s independent, disruptive innovation and differentiated growth. Currently, the Board of Directors of Greater Bay Bio comprises senior experts with backgrounds in business, finance, AI, and biotechnology.”

Li Zhe, Managing Partner at Proxima CapitalProxima Capital stated: “Proxima Capital continuously monitors the application of global innovative technologies in the healthcare sector. Artificial intelligence (AI) has achieved breakthrough progress in recent years, profoundly influencing and transforming the processes of new drug development and industrialization. In traditional biopharmaceutical R&D, constructing high-expression and stable cell lines typically requires an investment of tens of millions of yuan and months of time dedicated to process exploration. The Great Bay Bio team leverages extensive industry experience and forward-looking strategic thinking to innovatively apply AI methods to address these challenges in biopharmaceutical process development, achieving significant breakthroughs. They have established a comprehensive end-to-end solution ranging from high-expression and high-stability cell line development to industrial-scale mass production. This approach compresses process optimization timelines from several months to just a few weeks, substantially reducing the time and costs associated with industrial-scale production for biopharmaceutical companies. The company’s platform and services have gained recognition from numerous renowned clients both domestically and internationally and are currently being delivered at scale. Proxima Capital remains firmly optimistic about Great Bay Bio’s leading positioning and breakthrough advancements in the field of AI-driven biopharmaceuticals, and is committed to supporting the rapid growth of its business.”

Proxima Capital is a specialized investment firm focused on innovative medical technologies and disruptive biotechnologies, dedicated to serving exceptional innovative healthcare technology enterprises with significant growth potential. Managed and operated by a professional team with extensive experience in the medical industry, Proxima Capital boasts diverse and international expertise, professional backgrounds, and industry networks. The firm currently manages multiple RMB and USD funds. Proxima Capital has established a leading healthcare entrepreneurship ecosystem, facilitating connections between its portfolio companies and high-quality clinical and industrial resources, achieving remarkable experience and results.

GL Ventures is Hillhouse’s venture capital platform dedicated to early-stage innovative companies, with a focus on key sectors including hard tech, software, biotechnology, new materials, emerging brands, and consumer technology. GL Ventures seeks out all entrepreneurs who are passionate about technology and believe in innovation. We aim to be the first call for founders seeking financing, and we look forward to accompanying them throughout their entrepreneurial journey.

Headquartered in Hong Kong Science Park, Dawan Bio is a high-tech enterprise dedicated to applying cutting-edge artificial intelligence technologies to drug development platforms. Upholding the vision of “making global bioprocess development simpler and more efficient,” the company addresses many pain points in drug development, such as low success rates, long cycles, and high costs. The company operates a 3,100-square-meter R&D laboratory building and has successfully advanced multiple biologics into the New Drug Application (NDA) stage, including Class I new drugs in China. Since its establishment, Dawan Bio has accumulated extensive experimental data while developing numerous national new drugs, creating an intelligent integrated database. Leveraging deep learning, the company is building a next-generation AI-driven drug R&D ecosystem. Currently, three of its intelligent bioprocess development platforms have entered commercial operation, including the intelligent cell line development platform Klone4.0™ and the cell line stability prediction platform AlfaStaX.^®With the Intelligent Culture Medium Development Platform AlfaMedX^®. Dawan Bio has been consecutively awarded the national “High-Tech Enterprise” title, as assessed by the Leading Group Office for the Administration of High-Tech Enterprise Certification. The company was featured on the “2020 China’s Most Investable Enterprises List – New Sprout Top 150,” hosted by Zero2IPO Group; ranked among the “Top 50 Biotech Innovation Enterprises in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area” at the Third Edition, co-hosted by Zhongchuang Industry Research Institute and KPMG China, and organized by Guangdong Medical Valley; and selected as one of the Top 15 finalists in the 2021 Merck Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Innovation Training Camp, hosted by Merck.