ReadCrystal Announces Pre-A Financing of Tens of Millions to Accelerate Drug Discovery via 'Structural Biology + Computation' Platform Based on MicroED

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has recently learned that Suzhou Qingyun Ruijing Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (“Qingyun Ruijing”), a new drug discovery platform based on MicroED technology, has officially announced the completion of its Pre-A financing round, raising tens of millions of yuan.This funding round was led by Dayou Capital, with participation from Bangming Capital, Guofa Venture Capital, and Changshu Guofa. Xinghan Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor.

A widely circulated saying in the industry goes: “Data and features determine the upper limit of machine learning, while models and algorithms merely approach this limit.”

A similar situation exists in the field of drug discovery, particularly for innovative targets, where the lack of publicly available data makes it difficult to obtain reliable computational predictions. Integrating extensive structural biology data can significantly enhance the efficiency and accuracy of algorithms. Therefore, the ability to rapidly acquire structural biology data has become a top priority throughout the entire R&D process.

MicroED technology was named one of the top ten global scientific breakthroughs of 2018 by Science magazine. By using electrons instead of X-rays, it greatly increases scattering efficiency, thereby enhancing signal strength and substantially improving data acquisition capabilities at the fundamental physical level.Therefore, MicroED technology can accelerate drug discovery in several key steps:

(1) During the early stage of hit generation, obtaining binding mode data for a large number of fragment molecules with the target protein provides initial data and key clues for drug discovery; (2) During lead optimization, rapid feedback yields binding mode data between lead molecules and the target protein, significantly accelerating the optimization iteration process.

Therefore, MicroED will offer significant advantages for targets that are difficult to drug.

Dr. Liu Leifeng, Founder & CEO of Qingyun Ruijing, stated:“During the acquisition of structural biology data, MicroED reduces the required crystal size by at least one million-fold, thereby significantly accelerating the most time- and labor-intensive wet-lab procedures in the entire workflow. Currently, numerous major foreign pharmaceutical companies and prominent startups are strategically deploying MicroED technology.”

“As the inventor team of this technology, we began our research and development at Stockholm University in 2007. With over a decade of R&D experience, we have become a globally leading team in this field and are committed to developing world-class foundational technologies in China. Our current focus is on further refining high-throughput MicroED technology, building a drug discovery platform based on MicroED, and leveraging this platform to overcome a series of targets currently considered undruggable.”

The founding team of Qingyun Ruijing is in the prime of their careers. With an average age of under 40, the three founders are already recognized as authoritative experts in the field:

Founder: Liu Leifeng, Ph.D. from Stockholm University in Sweden. During his doctoral studies, he focused on the development and application of MicroED technology. He has published more than 30 papers in journals such as Nature, JACS, and Angewandte Chemie, with an h-index of 16 and a total of 2,355 citations.Professor Sun Junliang, Founding ScientistThe sole recipient of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars in the field of MicroED, and a national leading expert in this direction.Prof. Lei Xiaoguang, Founding ScientistA leading domestic expert in the field of innovative drug R&D, a recipient of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, Chief Scientist for the Ministry of Science and Technology’s 973 and 863 Programs, and a scientist under the Ten Thousand Talents Program. He has engaged in license-out collaborations with top-five global pharmaceutical companies for the discovery of first-in-class (FIC) new drugs.

Dr. Liu Leifeng stated, “Suzhou Qingyun Ruijing Biotechnology Co., Ltd. has made smooth progress in its commercialization efforts, completing three rounds of financing within one year and establishing collaborations with dozens of pharmaceutical companies both domestically and internationally. We firmly believe that acquiring data through innovative experimental techniques, combined with computer-aided drug design (CADD), will be the key to overcoming challenging undruggable targets.”

Zhou Shengyun, Partner at Dayou Capital, the Lead Investor in This RoundIt stated: Drug discovery is a critical link in the drug R&D process, and high-quality drug discovery platforms remain a scarce resource in the global pharmaceutical industry. Therefore, we are highly optimistic about the founding team of Suzhou Qingyun Ruijing Biotechnology Co., Ltd. and its drug discovery platform based on MicroED structure determination combined with artificial intelligence. We believe that the company’s emerging foundational technologies will not only bring substantial value to drug discovery but also offer significant application potential in fields such as synthetic biology and protein engineering for in vitro diagnostics.

Wang Ruowen, Bangming Capital, the co-investor in this roundStatement: Target structure-based R&D strategies have become the most effective approach for source innovation in new drug development. The team at Suzhou Qingyun Ruijing Biotechnology Co., Ltd. possesses a distinctive “Micro-ED + AI” drug discovery platform, which helps pharmaceutical companies significantly improve the efficiency of innovative drug screening and optimization. This platform is poised to deliver critical value across multiple stages of new drug R&D. Bangming is honored to partner with such an outstanding team as Qingyun Ruijing, and we are highly confident that the company will grow into one of the leading global providers of structure-based core solutions.

Changshu Guofa Venture Capital Investment TeamIt is stated that as one of the key projects of the Peking University Changshu Institute for Molecular Sciences, Suzhou Qingyun Ruijing Biotechnology Co., Ltd. has established Changshu’s first integrated drug discovery platform leveraging its proprietary MicroED technology. Changshu Guofa, as a local state-owned capital entity, supports the development of high-quality local enterprises. We believe that the rapid growth of domestic CRO companies fundamentally reflects an upgraded demand for efficient innovation capabilities among innovative pharmaceutical companies. Therefore, we are confident that through sustained R&D investment, the team at Suzhou Qingyun Ruijing will continue to achieve breakthroughs in new drug R&D services and maintain robust growth momentum.

Ji Yingjie, Angel Investor at Ninehe VenturesStatement: Drug discovery has entered an era of “virtual screening + design” based on structure and algorithms. However, relying solely on current AI algorithms makes it difficult to achieve effective results amid data scarcity. Suzhou Qingyun Ruijing Biotechnology Co., Ltd. boasts world-class expert teams and technical expertise in MicroED, a foundational electron microscopy platform for structural biology, as well as in AI-driven drug discovery algorithms. It can directly resolve the binding states between small-molecule compounds and protein targets. This capability significantly enhances R&D efficiency across diverse therapeutic modalities, including small-molecule drug structure elucidation, macromolecular antibody drug development, peptide structure resolution and development, novel vaccine design, enzyme engineering, and AAV viral capsid design and quality control.

Qingdao Dayou Private Equity Fund Management Co., Ltd. focuses on early-stage venture capital investment in the ICT and healthcare industries. The firm currently manages 11 venture capital funds, with multiple portfolio companies having gone public or filed for IPOs. The core medical investment team of Dayou Capital boasts extensive experience at leading medical device and pharmaceutical enterprises. It adheres to an investment strategy centered on the synergy between in vitro diagnostics (IVD) and pharmaceutical therapeutics, as well as common technology platforms within vertical segments of the industry value chain, and has invested in numerous well-known industry players. Leveraging characteristics such as the divergence/synergy among healthcare sub-sectors and severe market information asymmetry, Dayou Capital conducts in-depth post-investment management, steadfastly accompanying its portfolio companies in their shared growth.

Bangming Capital, established in 2011, is a professional venture capital firm that has long adhered to the philosophy of value investing and focuses on investing in “technology + growth” enterprises. Since its inception, Bangming Capital has been dedicated to key technologies and technological innovations in the fields of electronic information semiconductors, healthcare, and energy conservation and environmental protection. Upholding the spirit of “long-termism” and the principles of value discovery and value creation, we are committed to growing alongside China’s most promising sci-tech innovative enterprises and entrepreneurs, jointly advancing their scientific and technological ventures.

Changshu Guofa Venture Capital is a state-owned equity investment platform under the Changshu municipal government. On one hand, it is entrusted with managing government guidance funds, dedicated to serving the local real economy; on the other hand, it participates in market-oriented investments and manages commercial funds, focusing on emerging industries such as new materials, high-end equipment, and biopharmaceuticals. In the field of biopharmaceuticals and related industrial chain sectors, Changshu Guofa Venture Capital has invested in projects including Allpunk Medical and Jinshi Biotechnology, leveraging the resources of the municipal state-owned capital platform and relevant industries to provide companies with in-depth post-investment services.