Nanjing Namomei Completes RMB 30 Million Angel Funding Round for World-First Ferritin Nanozyme Drug Delivery System
VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that Nanjing Nameimei Technology Co., Ltd. announced the completion of its RMB 30 million angel financing round, exclusively invested by the Medical Innovation Fund managed by OCEANPINE.
Sun Guoming, CEO of Nanjing Namei Technology Co., Ltd., stated that this round of financing will be primarily used forJoint development of the ferritin nanozyme drug delivery system by Namei and the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Nanozyme Engineering Laboratory, continued investment in clinical research, and application for clinical trial approval of the ferritin nanozyme drug delivery system.
Nanjing Namei Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Namei”), established in early 2020 and located in the Bio-Medicine Valley of Nanjing Jiangbei New Area, is a high-tech enterprise dedicated to the research and development of novel drugs based on ferritin nanozyme drug delivery systems. The Company’s Chairman and Chief Scientist is Yan Xiyun, an Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and President of the Asian Federation of Biophysics. Academician Yan’s related research achievements were selected twice among the “Top Ten Scientific Advances in China” in 2007 and 2012, respectively, and she has been honored with the Second Prize of the National Natural Science Award and the Atlas International Award. As an anti-tumor therapeutic, the ferritin nanozyme drug delivery system enables precise and highly efficient treatment for various types of tumors, earning high acclaim from the academic, industrial, and medical communities.
This marks the first financing round completed since the establishment of Namei Technology. OCEANPINE holds a highly favorable view of the research and development prospects as well as the clinical application potential of the ferritin nanozyme drug delivery system. Regarding the rationale behind this round of financing, Sun Guoming, the company’s CEO, attributed it primarily to the following three factors:
First, the world’s first ferritin nanozyme drug delivery system will address critical challenges in current cancer therapy, such as the severe toxic side effects and low drug utilization rates of anticancer agents, thereby enhancing China’s position in the global nanomedicine market for cancer treatment and leading international directions in drug development.
Second, the company’s scientific research and technology team is led by Academician Yan Xiyun of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, forming a top-tier team dedicated to tackling key scientific challenges, with formidable research strength and a solid foundation that should not be underestimated.
Third, the ferritin nanozyme drug delivery system is a nanozyme platform developed over more than a decade by Academician Yan Xiyun’s research team, with some of its diagnostic research outcomes having received patent approval. The stability and practicality of this platform have been widely recognized, and its therapeutic research outcomes hold substantial application potential.
Traditional anticancer drugs have long been plagued by significant toxic side effects and low utilization efficiency. Previously, researchers both domestically and internationally proposed the strategy of nano-anticancer drugs, which use nanocarriers (approximately 100–200 nanometers) to load anticancer agents. By leveraging the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect in solid tumor tissues, this approach enables the accumulation of anticancer drugs at the tumor site, thereby improving drug utilization efficiency and reducing toxic side effects. Currently, nano-anticancer drugs such as albumin-bound paclitaxel, liposomal paclitaxel, and liposomal doxorubicin are available on the market; these products are in the stage of overseas innovation and domestic generic production. The rise of Chinese scientists is set to change this landscape.
In 2007, Academician Yan Xiyun first discovered and proposed the concept of “nanozymes,” defining inorganic materials with enzyme-like catalytic activity at the nanoscale as nanozymes. Over more than a decade of research, the structural characteristics of nanozymes have been elucidated, and their physiological applications have been expanded. The ferritin nanozyme drug-delivery system provides a novel drug carrier capable ofAchieving targeted delivery of small-molecule chemotherapeutic agents, small interfering RNA (siRNA), and CRISPR gene-editing systems to tumor tissues in the human body, featuring high biocompatibility, high utilization efficiency, potent tumor-killing efficacy, and broad-spectrum antitumor effects. The ferritin nanozyme drug delivery system will address the current challenges faced by nanocarriers for antitumor drugs, including poor biocompatibility, lack of active targeting, significant toxic side effects, and low drug loading capacity.
Ferritin nanozymes load anticancer drugs into the spherical cavity of ferritin, assembling them into “autonomously navigating anti-tumor tanks.” This drug delivery system features a nanoscale size (10–20 nm) and can penetrate into the vicinity of tumor tissues via the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect. Meanwhile, the ferritin shell of the drug-loaded system actively binds to transferrin receptor 1 (TfR1), which is overexpressed on the surface of cancer cells, thereby delivering the system to these cells. Once inside the tumor cells, the ferritin molecules release the anticancer drugs, killing the cancer cells with an efficiency several to dozens of times higher than that of conventional chemotherapy agents. In contrast, normal human cells remain unaffected by the anticancer agents, thus avoiding the severe side effects associated with chemotherapy drugs. Under the synergistic action of passive targeting and active targeting effects,This system can precisely target tumor tissues, achieving ultra-high enrichment of anticancer drugs within the tumor, thereby significantly improving drug utilization efficiency and reducing toxic side effects.
Currently, many pharmaceutical companies both domestically and internationally are engaged in the research and development of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). The ferritin-based drug delivery system also exhibits active cancer cell-targeting effects similar to those of ADCs. The ferritin nanozyme drug delivery system can simultaneously carry hundreds of anticancer drug molecules. Taking the anticancer drug doxorubicin as an example, data indicate that a single ferritin nanozyme cavity can load 200 doxorubicin molecules.Its drug-loading efficiency is significantly improved, and the enhanced tumor-killing efficacy and cost-effectiveness are self-evident.
Academician Yan Xiyun’s team pioneered the ferritin-based drug delivery system globally, utilizing ferritin to load chemotherapeutic agents for targeted tumor therapy. The originality and uniqueness of this technology have established exceptionally high technical barriers for the project.
Regarding the promotion of the ferritin nanozyme drug delivery system in the anti-tumor drug market, Sun Guoming, CEO of Nazhimei, stated that in addition to jointly developing this drug delivery system with the CAS Nanozyme Engineering Laboratory, the company has also signed a collaboration agreement with Beijing Tiantan Hospital for brain tumor treatment. The company is currently finalizing intellectual property matters related to the drug delivery system and actively preparing for its industrial-scale production. During Phase II and Phase III clinical trials, the company plans to collaborate with well-known domestic pharmaceutical enterprises to promote the product, thereby strategically planning the clinical application and market expansion roadmap for the ferritin nanozyme drug delivery system.
Sun Guoming stated that the patent application for this drug-delivery system has been entrusted to a patent law firm for processing. The application process is now in its final stages, marking the conclusion of the intellectual property-related work.
For mass production, NaMome will adopt the CRO and CDMO models to manufacture ferritin nanozyme drug delivery systems. Since the ferritin in this drug delivery system is primarily produced through prokaryotic fermentation, production costs will be significantly reduced, facilitating market promotion.
Namo Mei is headquartered in the Nanjing Jiangbei New Area, a hub for several well-known domestic pharmaceutical companies. The company plans to leverage its geographic advantage to collaborate with these established pharmaceutical firms on marketing efforts once its drug delivery system R&D advances to Phase II and Phase III clinical trials.
In response, the Nanozyme research team led by Academician Yan Xiyun is confident in ferritin nanozymes.
Academician Yan Xiyun stated, “Ferritin nanozymes represent a novel drug delivery platform. Its core technology enables the co-delivery of multiple anti-tumor agents (such as chemotherapeutic drugs, siRNA, and CRISPR) with precise tumor targeting. If successful, this will be a disruptive technology that profoundly reshapes the current landscape of the anti-tumor drug industry. We welcome the participation of our first investor, OCEANPINE Capital, and look forward to growing and sharing in the rewards together. The completion of this financing marks a critical step and an important milestone in translating the ferritin nanozyme drug delivery system from laboratory research into a new therapeutic product.”
Academician Yan emphasized, “The successful completion of our project’s financing during the severe phase of the epidemic would not have been possible without the strong support from all parties. We are especially grateful to the departments at all levels in Jiangbei New Area for their support. We are confident that the ferritin nanozyme project will thrive on the fertile ground of Jiangbei New Area.”
Meanwhile, the Administrative Committee of Nanjing Jiangbei New Area and OCEANPINE, the angel-round investor, also spoke highly of the application prospects of this drug-delivery system.
Chen Chanmei, Deputy Director of the Administrative Committee of Nanjing Jiangbei New Area, stated, “Academician Yan Xiyun and her team are at the forefront globally in the discovery and technological application of nanozymes. The team has achieved breakthrough progress in ferritin-based nanodrug carrier technology, with related research findings published in top-tier international journals such as Nature Nanotechnology and PNAS, generating significant impact in both academic and pharmaceutical circles. We warmly welcome Academician Yan Xiyun’s decision to establish her base in the Nanjing Bio-medicine Valley within Jiangbei New Area to further advance the industrialization of scientific achievements. We will spare no effort in providing enterprise development services and support to facilitate the accelerated growth of Namei Company.”
A partner at OCEANPINE stated, “Since its establishment in 2016, OCEANPINE has actively invested in innovative drugs driven by clinical medical needs. The team at Nanjing Namei has accumulated substantial core technologies in the field of targeted anti-tumor therapy. We believe that Nanjing Namei Technology Co., Ltd., led by Academician Yan Xiyun, will be able to develop original Chinese targeted anti-tumor therapeutic products, benefiting a vast patient population in China and around the world.”