Innovative CRO Platform Yaoyanshe Secures Over RMB 600 Million in Combined C+ and D Funding Rounds

Recently, YaoYanShe announced the consecutive completion of its Series C+ and Series D financing rounds within eight months, with a total amount exceeding RMB 600 million. The Series D round was co-led by Granite Global Ventures and Vision Capital, with existing shareholders Matrix Partners China and Zhongding Capital continuing to increase their investments. The Series C+ round was co-led by Sequoia China and Zhongding Capital, with follow-on investments from existing shareholders including Matrix Partners China, Vision Capital, and Genesis Capital.

As a leader among innovative CROs and the pioneer of the first technology platform in the clinical research industry, Drug Research Society is dedicated to creating an innovative service model that shortens drug development cycles and reduces costs. Founder Sun Meilin stated that the funds from this financing round will continue to be used to strengthen foundational infrastructure, such as the standardization and systematization of drug development, promote the clinical research technology platform, and open it up for industry-wide sharing to maximize customer value.

Founded in December 2015, Drug R&D Society has progressed through three pivotal stages over the past four-plus years: initially focusing on productization, achieving a critical upgrade in industrial commercialization over the last three years, and now entering a key phase of ecosystem development for the present and future. The company has successfully established a closed loop integrating its core strengths in products, data, technology, and talent innovation. By opening and sharing its Trial.Link technology platform, Drug R&D Society better serves all stakeholders across both ends—pharmaceutical companies and hospitals—including practitioners, researchers, and patients.

Sun Meilin revealed that the company has achieved scalable and sustainable business development capabilities, entering a phase of high-quality growth. This is reflected in the data: over the past year, business growth has more than tripled; the company maintains deep business collaborations with over 1,500 hospitals, among which more than 500 have joined the Trial.Link platform; there are over 1,000 pharmaceutical companies on the platform; and its products cover more than 95% of industry practitioners.

Regarding this financing round, Wu Chenyao, Executive Director at Granite Global Ventures, stated, “We are optimistic about China’s vast innovative drug market and the significant growth potential driven by IT advancements, model innovation, and management efficiency improvements in the CRO sector. We believe that the CRO 2.0 transformation represented by Yanyanshe will create a win-win outcome for all stakeholders involved in clinical trials, including pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, trial participants, and regulatory authorities. This is merely the first step in unlocking Yanyanshe’s future potential. In this long-term endeavor, we have full confidence in the team led by Sun Meilin. We are convinced that with an excellent team, supportive industrial policies and regulatory frameworks, a steadfast commitment to customer service and quality, and the backing of investors, Yanyanshe will make significant contributions to domestic drug development and the broader health industry in China.”

“As an investor that has supported the company since its Pre-A round, Tian Min, Partner at Vision Capital, stated that Drug Research Society is experiencing a leap in business development—evolving from establishing a collaborative platform for drug R&D, to providing technology-driven, standardized, and process-oriented drug R&D services, and further to building an industry ecosystem connecting five key stakeholders: sponsors, hospitals/institutions, investigators, patients, and practitioners. As the earliest institutional investor in Drug Research Society, Vision Capital has accompanied the company through all critical stages of its business acceleration. We remain bullish on the market potential for growth in the technology-driven CRO sector and have full confidence in Drug Research Society’s outstanding and professional team.”