Antai Kangcheng Secures Tens of Millions in Pre-A Round Led by Panlin Capital, Focused on Tumor Treating Fields Therapy

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that Hunan Antai Kangcheng Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (“Antai Kangcheng”) recently completed a Pre-A financing round worth tens of millions of yuan, with Panlin Capital as the sole investor.

ATKC is a leading domestic enterprise in the research and development of tumor treating fields (TTF) technology. In recent years, it has been dedicated to developing personalized TTF systems tailored for Chinese patients. With strong collaboration and support from multidisciplinary teams—including professional medical societies and their clinical expert groups in China, as well as specialists in electronic engineering, materials science, and medical imaging—the founding team has independently developed proprietary TTF-based products. Currently, the finalized product has entered the clinical trial phase.

Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) therapy is a novel, non-invasive physical modality for cancer treatment, representing a new therapeutic paradigm following surgery and chemoradiotherapy. By generating alternating electric fields with specific frequencies, waveforms, and field strengths within the tumor region using specialized devices, this approach aims to inhibit tumor cell proliferation and promote tumor cell death. TTFields technology is highly complex, imposing stringent requirements on parameters such as electric field intensity, frequency, treatment distance, and target localization.

As an innovative cancer therapy, Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) have first demonstrated significant efficacy with minimal side effects in the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme, a highly malignant brain tumor. Malignant gliomas have historically been associated with the poorest prognosis among all tumor types, characterized by high recurrence rates and a five-year survival rate of only approximately 4.5%. Conventional treatments include surgical resection, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy; however, their therapeutic efficacy has reached a bottleneck, yielding generally unsatisfactory outcomes. Due to their infiltrative growth pattern and the lack of clear boundaries with surrounding brain tissue, gliomas are difficult to resect completely. Furthermore, the efficacy of chemotherapy is limited by the blood-brain barrier, the development of tumor drug resistance, and drug-related toxicities, resulting in suboptimal therapeutic outcomes. The response rates for several commonly used drugs in glioma treatment are all below 30%.

Tumor Treating Fields, on the basis of prior surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy (temozolomide), objectively prolonged patients' progression-free survival and overall survival.

This therapy was included in the NCCN (National Comprehensive Cancer Network) Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology for Central Nervous System Tumors in 2013 and has remained listed ever since. In 2018, it was also incorporated into the “Chinese Guidelines for Diagnosis and Treatment of Glioma” as well as the “Standardized Diagnosis and Treatment of Glioma in China” issued by the National Health Commission.

Currently, preliminary results from ongoing international clinical trials indicate that tumor treating fields (TTF) devices also demonstrate significant efficacy against various tumors, including ovarian cancer, pancreatic cancer, and lung cancer.

The high cost of foreign electric field therapy makes it unaffordable for the vast majority of patients in China. Therefore, there is an urgent need to rapidly develop domestically produced devices with independent intellectual property rights, high cost-effectiveness, and broad accessibility.

ATKC has secured in-depth participation and guidance from authoritative expert teams across the industry, academia, research, and medical sectors in areas such as product research, design, R&D, mechanism exploration, preliminary cellular experiments, animal validation studies, as well as clinical trial design and implementation. This has established an integrated R&D and translation system spanning technology, products, and clinical research and application, embodying a cohesive “industry-academia-research-medical-application” model.

Ms. Lu Jian, the founder of ATKC, stated, “ATKC brings together top-tier domestic resources in related industries and is committed to launching cost-effective tumor treating fields (TTF) devices to benefit cancer patients in China.”

Currently, ATKC has completed the R&D and finalization of its third-generation device. The product’s various parameters have met the standards of comparable foreign products, and it has established its own core invention patent portfolio, positioning it at a leading level domestically.

Notably, ATKC has also established a precision-optimized treatment planning system based on biophysical models and multimodal imaging systems.

Ms. Lu Jian told VCBeat, “According to domestic and international studies, the distribution of electric fields within the cranium is heterogeneous. Using our planning system, we can visualize the intracranial electric field intensity distribution. By integrating multimodal imaging techniques, we can calculate the field strength at the tumor target volume, thereby optimizing electrode placement to ensure the tumor lies within the region of highest field intensity. During treatment, the electric field distribution can be timely adjusted via the planning system in response to tumor progression trends. In summary, the planning system enhances the controllability of electric field distribution, thereby maximizing therapeutic efficacy.”

Regarding ATKC’s future work and development, Ms. Lu Jian stated: “Moving forward, we will accelerate clinical trials in the field of gliomas while simultaneously expanding our multi-tumor clinical trial portfolio. By fully integrating clinical resources, we aim to localize this technology as soon as possible and benefit patients in China with cost-effective products. The funds from this financing round will primarily be used to conduct small-sample clinical trials, carry out part of the large-sample, nationwide multicenter clinical trials, and upgrade the equipment to expand its indications.”

From the perspective of Panlin Capital’s healthcare investment team, tumor treating fields (TTF) represent an innovative oncology therapy whose efficacy has been validated in clinical trials. As a pioneer, innovator, and leader in this field in China, ATKC has leveraged its professional and resource advantages to achieve rapid progress in R&D, driving technological and product innovation. With a solid and reliable R&D foundation and a development pace that leads domestically, its product technical specifications and operational models have surpassed those of foreign counterparts. Panlin Capital is confident in ATKC’s continued growth.

Mr. Li Yuhui, Founding Managing Partner and Chairman of Panlin Capital, stated: “Currently, tumor treating fields (TTF) technology is gradually gaining market recognition and has become a focal point of interest, making related investment targets highly sought after by the market. Independent innovation in this field within China is showing vigorous growth, and ATKC stands out as a promising pioneer in this wave of indigenous R&D. Its technical products and services combine the advantages of high cost-effectiveness in the domestic market with the high level of professionalism seen internationally. The research and development of new drugs for major oncological diseases and high-end medical devices have always been key investment focuses for Panlin Capital. We are delighted to support outstanding enterprises like ATKC in achieving continuous breakthroughs and benefiting patients in China.”

Reference: Tumor Treating Fields: A Big Scam or a Major Lifesaver? — Pineapple Factor