BriSTAR Immunotech Completes Over RMB 200 Million Series C Financing, Accelerating Development of Universal STAR-T and In Vivo Cell Therapy Platforms

On July 6, 2026, BriSTAR Immunotech (Beijing) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "BriSTAR Immunotech") announced the completion of a Series C financing round exceeding RMB 200 million. This round was led by Loyal Valley Capital, with follow-on investment from Fudan Science and Technology Innovation Fund.

The proceeds from this round will be primarily used to advance the registration clinical development of the lead universal STAR-T product YTS109, accelerate the construction of the In vivo STAR-T technology platform, and establish the commercialization system and global intellectual property portfolio.

Upon the completion of this financing, BriSTAR Immunotech will further strengthen its innovative advantages in the next-generation cell therapy field, accelerating the translation of safer, more effective, and more accessible cell therapy products toward clinical application.

BriSTAR Immunotech was founded in 2018 by Professor Lin Xin, a globally renowned immunologist, tenured professor at Tsinghua University, and leading scientist at Changping National Laboratory. The company focuses on the research and development and translational application of STAR-T technology and universal site-specific integration platform technologies. It targets major unmet clinical needs in oncology and severe autoimmune diseases, and is committed to developing innovative cell therapy products that combine efficacy, safety, and accessibility.

As a long-term value-oriented investment institution in China, the lead investor Loyal Valley Capital has consistently focused on biopharmaceutical companies with original innovation capabilities and global competitive potential. Fudan Science and Technology Innovation Fund, leveraging the extensive research and industrial resources of Fudan University, actively promotes the translation of original scientific and technological achievements. This investment not only reflects the capital market's recognition of BriSTAR Immunotech's technological innovation capabilities and industrialization prospects, but will also provide sustained support for the company's future development.

Since its establishment, BriSTAR Immunotech has continuously improved its research and development systems and industrialization capabilities, establishing a complete innovation chain covering fundamental research, process development, clinical translation, and manufacturing. The company has raised cumulative financing exceeding RMB 500 million, and its research and development capabilities and product pipeline progress have received broad recognition from the industry.

In recent years, the cell therapy industry has entered a phase of rapid development. With continued global market expansion and accelerated deployment by large multinational pharmaceutical companies, cell therapy has become one of the most innovative and dynamic sectors in the biopharmaceutical field. However, traditional autologous cell therapies generally face challenges including prolonged manufacturing timelines, high production costs, and limited scalability. Universal cell therapies and in vivo cell therapies have therefore become key areas of focus for the global industry.

Building on original research outcomes from Tsinghua University and Changping National Laboratory, BriSTAR Immunotech has established the STAR-T technology platform, the universal site-specific integration technology platform, and the In vivo STAR-T technology platform, forming a comprehensive technology system covering both current and next-generation cell therapies. To date, the company has built a pipeline of over ten innovative product candidates covering hematological malignancies, solid tumors, and autoimmune diseases, and has obtained two Investigational New Drug clinical trial approvals in China and one Orphan Drug Designation from the United States Food and Drug Administration.

Among these, the STAR-T technology innovatively combines the antigen recognition advantages of chimeric antigen receptors with the natural signal transduction mechanisms of T-cell receptors. While retaining efficient antigen recognition capabilities, it possesses low baseline activation characteristics mediated by natural T-cell receptor signaling, effectively reducing the risk of antigen-independent non-specific activation. At the same time, STAR-T demonstrates higher antigen recognition sensitivity, more thorough target cell clearance, and enhanced tissue infiltration capabilities, showing promising application potential in complex disease settings such as solid tumors and autoimmune diseases. Related fundamental research findings have been published in sub-journals of Science and Cell.

The associated universal site-specific integration technology platform, through gene editing and site-specific integration strategies, achieves precise insertion of exogenous genes at designated sites, avoiding the risk of genomic insertion associated with random integration in traditional lentiviral approaches, thereby further enhancing product safety and consistency. On this basis, the platform enables standardized production and scalable manufacturing of cell products, with the potential to significantly reduce production costs and improve therapeutic accessibility. Compared with traditional individualized manufacturing models, this technology offers superior industrialization and commercialization potential, providing important support for the large-scale application of cell therapies.

Based on the above core technology platforms, BriSTAR Immunotech has developed YTS109, a universal STAR-T product targeting CD19, and has taken the lead in initiating clinical studies in the field of severe autoimmune diseases. Related research findings have been published in Nature Medicine, a leading international medical journal.

At the recent 2026 European Congress of Rheumatology, the company presented interim clinical results of YTS109 in the treatment of multiple severe autoimmune diseases. The data demonstrated positive efficacy and favorable safety profiles in indications including systemic lupus erythematosus, lupus nephritis, and autoimmune hemolytic anemia, laying a solid foundation for subsequent registration clinical development.

While advancing its mature product pipeline into clinical development, BriSTAR Immunotech is actively building its next-generation cell therapy technology platform—In vivo STAR-T.

Built upon the established STAR-T core structure, this platform integrates original technologies including in vivo delivery and in situ cell modification, enabling direct T-cell engineering within the patient's body without the need for peripheral blood collection, ex vivo cell culture, or expansion. Leveraging the safety advantages conferred by the natural T-cell receptor signaling of the STAR-T platform, its effects are primarily confined to target T-cell populations, reducing the risk of off-target cell editing. At the same time, the high sensitivity antigen recognition capability, strong tissue infiltration capacity, and excellent functional persistence of STAR-T make it one of the ideal technology platforms for the development of in vivo cell therapies.

Compared with traditional cell therapy models, In vivo STAR-T has the potential to significantly simplify treatment procedures, shorten therapeutic cycles, reduce overall costs, and further enhance the accessibility and reach of cell therapies, advancing the evolution of cell therapy from an "ex vivo manufacturing" model to an "in vivo generation" paradigm. The company is currently continuing to advance related technology research and development and validation efforts, actively building long-term technological barriers.