NearBio Announces Seed+ Financing to Advance Multiple mRNA Therapeutic Programs

VCBeat has learned that Shenzhen Jinlin Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (“Jinlin Biotech”), a biotechnology company dedicated to mRNA drug development with its own proprietary high-throughput mRNA synthesis platform and leading mRNA delivery technologies, recently announced the completion of its seed-plus financing round of over RMB 10 million, exclusively invested by YuanSheng Venture Capital. The proceeds will be primarily used to advance its product pipeline and support corporate operations.

During the prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic, messenger RNA (mRNA) technology—named one of the “Top 10 Breakthrough Technologies” by MIT Technology Review—gained prominence in the field of COVID-19 vaccine development and became widely known to the public, owing to its significant advantages in development timelines and efficacy. The mRNA vaccine co-developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, which received emergency authorization from regulatory authorities in the United States and the European Union in December 2020, was confirmed by real-world data to have an efficacy of up to 94% against symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection. This has established mRNA vaccines as a leading COVID-19 vaccine platform extensively adopted across developed countries in Europe and America.

In fact, mRNA vaccines and therapeutics are not only applicable to infectious diseases but also extend to multiple fields such as oncology, chronic diseases, and rare diseases, encompassing technologies including monoclonal antibodies, cell therapy, and gene therapy. Beyond their broad range of applications, mRNA vaccines and therapeutics have become a highly promising and high-potential area of research due to advantages in R&D and manufacturing, such as shorter development cycles and higher safety profiles.

Dr. Jiaqi Lin, founder of Neighbio, brings over a decade of research experience in nanobio interfaces, with a focused expertise in in vivo mRNA delivery and the optimized molecular design of vectors. He has published more than 20 papers in top-tier journals such as Nature Biotechnology and Nature Biomedical Engineering. During his postdoctoral fellowship, he worked under the supervision of Professor Robert Langer, renowned as the “Edison of Medicine.”

As early as 2016, Dr. Lin Jiaqi selected mRNA as his research focus at the Langer Laboratory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States. Over four years, he conducted extensive and in-depth research on mRNA at MIT’s laboratories and connected with a large community of like-minded scholars. Currently, the core R&D members of Neighbor Biotech all come from top-tier laboratories at MIT and have published numerous papers in high-impact international journals. This talent pool has endowed Neighbor Biotech with robust technological iteration capabilities, laying a solid foundation for the company’s sustainable development in the mRNA field.

As an investor in this round of financing for Neighbor Biopharma, Yuan Sheng Venture Capital holds strong confidence in the company’s R&D capabilities. Ban Bo, Partner at Yuan Sheng Venture Capital’s Shenzhen Angel Fund, stated, “Neighbor Biopharma is a rising star among domestic mRNA drug developers. Although its founding team consists of young scientists, they have accumulated extensive research experience in the field of nucleic acid drug delivery, including mRNA. During his postdoctoral fellowship at MIT in the United States, the founder collaborated on the development of a novel composite lipid nanoparticle (LNP) delivery system, which demonstrated superior protein expression levels in animal models and shows promise as a more optimal option for in vivo delivery of mRNA therapeutics.”

Whether in vivo or in vitro, delivery systems are essential for the intracellular transport of mRNA to its therapeutic site of action. In the absence of a delivery system, mRNA exhibits very low permeability across cell membranes, has a half-life of approximately 7 minutes, and is highly susceptible to degradation.

To address mRNA delivery challenges, the team at Neighbors Bio has focused on molecular design of liposomes and structural control of nanoparticles to enhance the clinical safety of liposomal mRNA therapeutics. They have developed a novel composite lipid nanoparticle (LNP) carrier with “synergistic” effects, which not only improves liposome stability but also facilitates mRNA release from endosomes, thereby achieving efficient mRNA delivery. Furthermore, the carrier incorporates biodegradable lipids, which not only increase the in vivo clearance rate of LNPs but also reduce toxicity.

Furthermore, by studying the interactions between liposomal molecules and immune proteins, the team at Neighbors Biotech has enabled the carrier to activate the immune system more rapidly. This also means that mRNA vaccines delivered via this carrier can elicit a stronger, more efficient, and more specific immune response.

In terms of mRNA production and the construction of synthesis systems, although mRNA synthesis can currently be outsourced, NearBio has chosen to establish its own automated high-throughput mRNA synthesis platform. This platform enables the simultaneous synthesis of nearly 100 different mRNA variants, successfully meeting the team’s needs for mRNA sequence screening.

Leveraging its delivery technologies and high-throughput mRNA synthesis platform, Neighbio has strategically established a strong presence in three key areas: infectious diseases, oncology, and protein augmentation. According to Dr. Lin Jiaqi, Neighbio’s current pipeline covers disease categories including colorectal cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer, influenza, herpes zoster, and cystic fibrosis, all of which exhibit substantial market demand both domestically and internationally. Moving forward, Neighbio will accelerate the development of its key pipelines, actively build out industrialization platforms, collaborate with leading industry resources, and leverage its team’s robust technical iteration capabilities to continuously explore superior technologies in the competitive landscape of mRNA vaccine and drug development.

Ban Bo, Partner at Yuansheng Venture Capital’s Shenzhen Angel Fund, stated, “mRNA therapeutics represent an emerging field, with significant challenges remaining not only in delivery systems but also in chemical modifications and manufacturing processes. Neighbio has actively established close collaborations with prestigious institutions such as Dalian University of Technology and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In addition to its in-house R&D efforts, the company leverages academic research capabilities to systematically address each critical step in the development of mRNA-based drugs. We are pleased that Yuansheng Venture Capital’s Shenzhen Angel Fund has participated exclusively in this round of financing for Neighbio, and we look forward to the company providing high-quality mRNA therapeutics to patients in China in the near future.”

YuanSheng Venture Capital is a healthcare-focused investment firm specializing in early-stage and growth-stage enterprises. Headquartered in Suzhou BioBAY, it maintains a global reach. The firm currently manages approximately RMB 6 billion in assets and has completed investments in over 100 high-quality projects, primarily spanning new drug development, medical devices, in vitro diagnostics (IVD), and healthcare services. These investments have yielded substantial returns. YuanSheng Venture Capital has been repeatedly recognized as one of the Top 10 venture capital funds in China’s healthcare sector and as one of the most active healthcare investment institutions in China.Bringing together a team of seasoned professional investors and a global advisory board of leading scientists, the firm possesses extensive experience in entrepreneurship, venture capital, and corporate operations within the biopharmaceutical and related industries. Leveraging its focused strategy and rich industry resources, YuanSheng Venture Capital is committed to becoming one of the most successful healthcare and pharmaceutical venture capital funds in China.