HeDu BioSecures Tens of Millions RMB in Angel Funding from Mifang Capital to Advance Bacterial Vector-Based Gene Therapies

VCBeat has learned that Hedoo Biopharmaceuticals (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Hedoo Biopharma”), a company dedicated to the research and development of novel bacterial vector-based gene therapies, recently announced the completion of its angel financing round amounting to tens of millions of yuan, invested by Mifang Capital. This funding will accelerate its growth into an innovative biopharmaceutical company with significant influence in the field of bacterial gene therapy both domestically and internationally.

Gene therapy is currently one of the most prominent and promising avenues in new drug development, offering distinct advantages over traditional small-molecule and macromolecular drugs in terms of disease targeting and specificity. The gut microbiota, existing as symbionts within the human body, comprehensively participates in physiological and pathological processes by modulating intestinal immunity and other mechanisms, thereby playing a crucial role in human health and disease.

In recent years, academia and industry have been integrating the novel concepts and therapeutic approaches of “gut microbiota” and “gene therapy” to develop a new class of gene therapies that utilize gut bacteria as delivery vehicles. By employing techniques such as gene editing and synthetic biology, therapeutic genes are integrated into the genomes of non-pathogenic bacteria. These genetically engineered bacteria are administered orally, colonize the intestine, and function as “drug factories” to produce gene-based therapeutics locally, thereby treating relevant diseases by modulating gut metabolism, immune responses, and other physiological functions.

Compared with virus-mediated gene therapy, bacterial vectors offer unique advantages in terms of safety and production costs. A number of biotechnology and biopharmaceutical companies have emerged in this emerging field of gene therapy in the United States and Europe, with early clinical trials from leading companies providing encouraging data and demonstrating the significant potential of bacterial vector-based gene therapy.

Hedu Bio is the first biopharmaceutical company in China to engage in the development of gene therapy drugs using bacterial vectors. The company’s founder, Dr. Xiang Bin, previously worked at the Novartis Pharmaceuticals Shanghai R&D Center and has over 14 years of experience in oncology and metabolic disease research as well as new drug development. He possesses extensive expertise in disease biology, preclinical new drug research, gut microbiota, and gene therapy. Co-founder Dr. Cheng Dachen has held positions at both AstraZeneca and the Novartis Pharmaceuticals Shanghai R&D Center, bringing rich experience in pharmaceutical CMC (Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls) and R&D operations.

The company’s R&D center has established a presence at the Shanghai Zhangjiang Pharma Valley platform and JLABS (Johnson & Johnson Innovation). It is currently advancing multiple new drug projects in the preclinical stage. Meanwhile, the company is collaborating with domestic and international synthetic biology enterprises through co-development models to drive the development of multiple bacterial gene therapy drugs.

Dr. Li Shanbing, Partner at Mifang Capital, stated that in recent years, the gut microbiota has garnered significant attention from both academia and industry, with over 1,400 clinical trials of gut microbiota-based drugs completed or currently underway. Using gut bacteria as vectors for the expression and delivery of gene therapies represents a novel therapeutic approach under investigation. By leveraging the symbiotic relationship between the gut microbiota and the human body, this strategy offers an alternative dimension for disease treatment. Both theoretical frameworks and existing data demonstrate its substantial development potential.

Mifang Capital believes that Hedoo Bio’s approach to new drug development is forward-looking, its technology platform is highly scalable, and its team possesses extensive R&D experience in this field. Mifang Capital is very optimistic about Hedoo Bio’s rapid growth in the domestic bacterial vector gene therapy sector and looks forward to the company’s early development of original therapeutic drugs for a variety of diseases.