Nine Innovative Biopharma Companies Secure New Funding, Five from China

▎WuXi AppTec Content Team Report

According to public information, last week (March 10th ~ March 16th), globally, there wereAt Least 9A new company dedicated to innovative drug development has announced the completion of a new round of financing, in which5 companiesFrom China. After sorting out, the products being developed by these new companies that have gained capital favor includeSmall molecules, siRNA drugs, gene therapy drugs, CAR-macrophage (CAR-M) therapy, etc., covering the disease areas targetedCancer, Inflammatory Diseases, Autoimmune Diseases, Cardiovascular Diseases, Neurodegenerative Diseasesetc.

Aikangnuo Biotech

Financing Round: B+ Round

Financing Amount: Nearly 100 Million Yuan

On March 15, Accropeutics announced the completion of a nearly 100-million-yuan B+ round of financing. This round of financingLed by SDIC, with Morningside Ventures, Leading Ventures, and Hefei Innovation Investment following.The funds raised will be used to accelerate the development of drugs in clinical stages for inflammatory and autoimmune diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, psoriasis, non-infectious uveitis, and acute graft-versus-host disease. Aikangnuo is a company focused on"Molecular Mechanisms and Related Pathogenesis of 'Regulated Cell Death'"Clinical-stage biotechnology company, which currently has three products in the clinical stage, includingSelective RIPK2 InhibitorAC-101、Selective TYK2/JAK1 InhibitorAC-201、Selective RIPK1 InhibitorAC-003 is currently under development for the treatment of ulcerative colitis, psoriasis, and acute graft-versus-host disease.

Rona Therapeutics

Financing Round: Pre-B Round

Financing Amount: 25 Million US Dollars

March 14,Rona Therapeutics Announces CompletionPre-B Round Financing, with an Amount of up to 25 Million US Dollars.This round of financingLed by Guanghua Phoenix, with the participation of both new and existing shareholders including Lilly Asia Ventures, Jiangyuan Investment, and Boyuan Capital.. This round of financing will help Rona Therapeutics advance its unique delivery and chemical modification platform technologies, further expanding its presence insiRNA Clinical Pipeline Layout in Cardiovascular Metabolism, Weight Loss, and Other Fieldsetc.Rona Therapeutics was founded inIn 2021,Committed to developing nucleic acid drugs to addressHypercholesterolemia, Hypertriglyceridemiaand other complex diseases. Rona Therapeutics currently has two pipelines advanced to the clinical research stage, respectively.TargetingPCSK9The new siRNA therapy, as well as targetingAPOC3siRNA drugs for genes.

Montara Therapeutics

Financing Round: Seed Round

Financing Amount: 20 Million US Dollars

On March 13, Montara Therapeutics announced the completion of a $20 million oversubscribed seed financing round, with participation from all existing investors, including founding investor SV Health Investors' Dementia Discovery Fund, Two Bear Capital, Dolby Family Ventures, and KdT Ventures, as well as other new investors such as BEVC. Together with the $8 million seed financing completed in July 2024, this brings Montara’s total seed funding to $28 million.Montara Therapeutics aims to revolutionize the discovery and development of brain-targeted drugs, with its innovative platform designed to prevent off-target peripheral side effects or toxicity of both existing and novel drugs.According to the press release, Montara Therapeutics plans to advance itsMajor Rare Epilepsy Program Enters IND, while accelerating the R&D of other projects, including a program related to age-related neurodegenerative diseases and an undisclosed project.

Insilico Medicine

Financing Round: Series E

Financing Amount: $110 Million

On March 13, Insilico Medicine announced the completion of a $110 million Series E financing round led by Value Partners Group's private equity fund, Pudong Venture Capital and Pudong Development Group, Xichuang Investment, and Yixing State-owned Assets Control. This round of financing also attracted the participation of new investors focused on industry and technology sectors and received support from existing investors. According to the press release, this round of financing will be used to advance Insilico Medicine’s treatments for...Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF)The clinical validation of its core candidate drug, and accelerate the exploration of other self-developed and collaboratively developed drug pipelines. Insilico Medicine focuses on unmet medical needs in areas such as cancer, fibrosis, immunology, central nervous system diseases, and aging-related diseases, and has already obtained clinical trial approvals for 10 candidate drugs.

Illexcor Therapeutics

Financing Round: Undisclosed

Financing Amount: Undisclosed

On March 12, Zynext Ventures announced its investment in Illexcor Therapeutics, a company dedicated to developingNew Generation of Oral Therapies for Sickle Cell Disease (SCD)Biopharmaceutical company. Illexcor is developing a potential "first-in-class" oral drug ILX002 at the preclinical stage,This is a hemoglobin S polymerization inhibitor,Directly targeting the root cause of SCD,Aims to bind with hemoglobin S and effectively block polymerization and sickling of red blood cells, thereby restoring normal blood rheology and prolonging the survival time of red blood cells.In preclinical studies, ILX002 was able to continuously inhibit sickle red blood cells in vitro for more than 2 hours, even under completely hypoxic conditions.

Vivace Therapeutics

Financing Round: Series D

Financing Amount: 35 Million US Dollars

On March 12, Vivace Therapeutics announced the completion of a $35 million Series D financing round. This round was led by existing investor RA Capital Management, with other existing investors including Canaan Partners and Cenova Capital. Vivace is a small molecule new drug research and development company that is currently developingCancer Therapies Targeting the Hippo Pathway. This round of financing will be used to support the company's research and developmentTEAD Mitochondrial Acylation InhibitorThe continued clinical development of VT3989. This product targets the Hippo pathway by inhibiting the palmitoylation of TEAD protein family members. It has already demonstrated promising efficacy and safety in Phase 1 clinical studies, particularly in cases where chemotherapy and immune-oncology combination therapies have failed.MesotheliomaThis is particularly prominent among patients. Vivace is actively advancing the randomized Phase 3 registration clinical trial of VT3989 in mesothelioma patients.

StimOxyGen

Financing Round: Undisclosed

Financing Amount: £1.5 Million

On March 11, StimOxyGen announced the completion of £1.5 million in financing. The round was led by DSW Ventures, with co-investment from QUBIS and Co-Fund NI managed by Clarendon, along with additional funding through Innovate UK's Future Economy Investment Partnerships grant program. Spin-off from Ulster University, StimOxyGen is dedicated to developing cancer treatments. The company’s technology isDirectly delivering oxygen to tumors to increase tumor oxygenation, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of treatments such as radiotherapy and immunotherapy., thereby providing a potential new approach for patients with invasive cancer.

Yufang Biologics

Financing Round: Pre-A Round

Financing Amount: Over 100 Million Yuan

On March 10, Yufang Biotech announced the completionOver 100 Million Yuan Pre-A Round FinancingThis round of financing was led by Guofang Innovation, with co-investments from Hongke Baishi, Feibiao Xiayan, Jiangbei Technology Investment, and Wu Yu (Henry WU), a seasoned professional in the biopharmaceutical field. Existing shareholders, Shanghai Biomedical Innovation and Transformation Fund under Shanghai Industrial Capital, and Shanghai Jinpu Muhe Fund, continued their support.Yufang Bio leverages its telomere precision regulation technology platform to continuously advance in heart failure and other degenerative diseases.This round of financing will be used to advance the companyTheCore PipelineThe clinical development of JV101 and the expansion research of multiple heart failure indications. JV101 is aAn innovative gene therapy drug targeting telomeres in myocardial cells, which can effectively restore telomere homeostasis, regenerate mitochondria to recover myocardial cell function, and reverse the progression of heart failure.The IND application for this project has been submitted in China by the end of 2024.

Kunshi Biotech

Financing Round: Pre A+ Round

Financing Amount: Tens of Millions of Yuan

On March 10, Kunshi Biotechnology successfully completed a Pre-A+ round of financing worth tens of millions of RMB, solely invested by Qingdao Yinghai Antai Equity Investment Partnership (Limited Partnership). Kunshi Biotechnology was founded in 2021.Focus on the development and clinical application of macrophage-based drugs for cancer and chronic diseases, and actively promote the research and development and industrialization of Chimeric Antigen Receptor Macrophages (CAR-M).According to the introduction in Kunshi Biotech's press release, the company is currently advancing nine CAR-M cell drug pipelines through multi-center collaborations with multiple institutions globally, includingHER2-targeted solid tumor pipeline, C-MET-targeted pancreatic cancer pipelineetc. Its leading pipeline, RR-M01 injection, is developed for solid tumors, with plans to file an IND in 2025.

Looking forward to more cutting-edge therapies and technologies benefiting patients faster with the support of capital.

References:

[1]Official websites of various companies and publicly available information