2024 Financing Roundup: Multiple Companies in Zhongguancun Life Science Park Secure Significant Funding, Demonstrating Strong Technical Capabilities

Jan 03, 2025 19:05 CST Updated 19:05

BioGeometry

Large Molecule Drug Developer

TowardPi

High-end Ophthalmic Medical Device Developer

In 2024, despite challenges in the financing environment, a group of outstanding companies in Zhongguan Village Life Science Park successfully secured funding. These include MicroSynther securing over 300 million yuan in financing, TowardPi completing a 200-million-yuan D-round financing, UMBIO achieving nearly 200 million yuan in financing, Molecular Heart securing hundreds of millions in A-round financing, and SineuGene completing nearly 100 million yuan in Pre-A round financing.

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NOVACYTE

Series B1 Financing

NOVACYTE THERAPEUTICS was founded in October 2015. Over the years, it has focused on developing conjugate drugs for unmet clinical needs by utilizing original and highly differentiated innovative technology platforms. The company has a complete R&D team and has built multiple conjugate technology platforms with independent intellectual property rights. Innovative linker-payload combinations have demonstrated excellent clinical potential in non-clinical evaluations.

This round of financing was led by the TaiKun Fund under Tylon Investment, with some existing shareholders following the investment. The funds from this round will primarily support the clinical development of NC18 and accelerate other ADC products in the pipeline towards IND.

Details Review:NOVACYTE THERAPEUTICS Completes B1 Financing and ADC Product IND Filing

Qingyuan Kaiwu

Tens of Millions of Yuan in Pre-A+ Round Financing

Qingyuan Kaiwu was founded in 2021, focusing on the upstream of the life sciences and biopharmaceutical industries. It concentrates on high-end instrumentation and equipment and their industrial applications, utilizing three core proprietary underlying technologies: "precision pipetting, accurate acoustics, and precise detection." By adopting a "modular building-block" approach, it constructs laboratory automation systems, providing highly customized, automated, and intelligent bio-sample preprocessing solutions for life science services, biopharmaceutical R&D, clinical diagnostic applications, and synthetic biology industries.

This round of financing was led by the Beijing Medical and Health Industry Investment Fund. The funds raised will be used for new product development, market promotion, and the construction of production bases, providing strong support for Qingyuan Kaituo's strategy of localization and internationalization.

Details Review:Qingyuan Kaiming Completes Tens of Millions of Yuan in Pre-A+ Round Financing, Accelerating Expansion into the Laboratory Automation Market

BioGeometry

Pre-A Round Financing

BioGeometry focuses on building a generative AI protein design platform to empower the entire biomanufacturing field. Its core team is a pioneer in applying generative AI to molecular generation, having utilized diffusion models for 3D molecular structure generation as early as 2021. This was one of the first teams to apply diffusion generative models to 3D molecular structure generation, with the key paper GeoDiff being one of the top 50 most cited papers in the AI field in 2022.

This round of financing was led by Jiangmen Ventures, with Zhipu AI and Shengjing Jicheng following up, and existing shareholder Gaorong Ventures continuing to increase investment. The funds will mainly be used to accelerate the implementation of generative AI large models in the biomanufacturing field and to advance the development of proprietary products.

Details Review:BioGeometry Completes Pre-A Round Financing, Generative Artificial Intelligence Empowers Biomanufacturing

TowardPi

$200 Million Series D Financing

TowardPi was founded in 2017, with its core technology originating from the transformation of scientific and technological achievements at Tsinghua University, and incubated by the Tsinghua Industrial Innovation Research Institute. TowardPi's product line includes ophthalmic OCT, surgical microscopes, ultra-wide-field fundus cameras, optical biometers, and more. Their products are sold in dozens of countries worldwide, with femtosecond laser and phacoemulsification/vitrectomy product lines currently under development.

This round of financing was led by Matrix Partners, with follow-up investments from GaoTeJia Investment and other institutions.

Details Review:TowardPi Medical Completes RMB 200 Million Series D Financing, Tsinghua's Independent Technology Continues to Lead Innovation in Ophthalmic Equipment

TimeXi Bio

Tens of Millions of Angel + Round Financing

Shixi Bio is a nucleic acid drug research and development company that focuses on developing innovative drugs for indications with no effective conventional treatments through an RNA editing technology platform. The targeted indication areas include cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, neurological disorders, respiratory conditions, anti-aging, and other fields with significant unmet clinical needs.

This round of financing was led by Zhongguancun Life Science Park Investment Fund's ZF Lingchuang-Life Park Venture Capital Fund, with co-investment from BeiGene BioIsland Innovation Center (hereinafter referred to as "BeiGene Innovation Center") and other well-known investment institutions.

Details Review:Shixi Bio Completes Angel+ Round Financing Worth Tens of Millions of Yuan

Evolution Healthcare

Tens of Millions of RMB in Angel Round Financing

Evolution Healthcare is a cross-species tumor gene therapy service provider established in 2023. It focuses on plant RDR1 protein-mediated miRNA repair therapy as its core technology, offering new solutions for clinical needs involving recurrent, refractory, and untreatable conditions. This therapy holds immense market potential and value, with the prospect of becoming the first broad-spectrum anti-tumor platform applicable to multiple cancer indications.

Details Review:Evolution Healthcare Completes Tens of Millions of RMB in Angel Financing, Focusing on Cross-Species Genetic Engineering Drug Development

Shenji Changhua

Nearly 100 Million Pre-A Round Financing

Shenji Changhua, relying on over a decade of scientific research accumulation by Professor Yi-Chang Jia's team from the School of Medicine at Tsinghua University, has established platforms for novel gene knock-in animal disease models, such as fruit flies and mice, and a central nervous system adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector screening platform. It is committed to developing treatments for neurological diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, commonly known as "Lou Gehrig's disease"), stroke, and Parkinson’s disease.

This round of financing was led by Zhongguancun Capital, with participation from ZHONGBOLI, Transfar Capital, and SANME Investment. The funds will be mainly used for the IND application of Shengyi Changhua's first pipeline SNUG01 and the advancement of other pipeline products.

Details Review:Shenji Changhua Completes Nearly 100 Million Yuan Pre-A Financing, Committed to Innovative Drug Development for Neurological Disorders

Microsynthesis

Over 300 Million Yuan in Series A Financing

MicroSynth Biotech began operations in 2022, focusing on technological innovation and industrialization in synthetic biology. The company provides bio-based raw materials and solutions to customers in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, agriculture, food, feed, and materials industries through green production methods. Its current main products include sugar alcohols and rare sugars, natural pigments, and active molecules.

The lead investor in this round of financing is Jingguotou Fund, with investments from Beijing Pharmaceutical and Health Industry Investment Fund, Shenzhen Capital Group, and Hebei Industry Investment Jincái Synthetic Equity Investment Fund. Existing shareholders Shunxi Fund and Henan Investment Group Huirong Fund continued to increase their investments. The funds raised from this round of financing will mainly be used to promote the industrialization of multiple products and the construction of Microsynth's production base.

Details Review:MicroSynth Completes Over 300 Million Yuan in Financing, Multiple Biomanufacturing Products to Enter Mass Production

Heart of Molecules

Hundreds of Millions of Dollars in Series A Financing

MoleculeMind is a leading AI protein design platform company in China, founded by Jinbo Xu, a global pioneer in AI protein folding technology and a computational biologist. Currently, MoleculeMind has partnered with national-level life science laboratories. The company has developed "MoleculeOS," an AI large-molecule optimization and design platform with independent intellectual property rights. Using data-driven deep learning methods, it assists biotechnology experts in quickly identifying and generating the most suitable proteins, rapidly scaling laboratory research results for industrial applications.

This round of financing amounts to several hundred million RMB, led jointly by Zenno Investment and Shenzhen Capital Group, with participation from SenseTime Guoxiang Capital and Jiuyi Investment. The funds will further accelerate the construction of AI biological infrastructure.

Details Review:Molecular Heart Secures Hundreds of Millions in Series A Funding, World-Class AI Protein Technology Accelerates New Infrastructure in Biotech

Saiyun Bio

Tens of Millions of Angel Financing

Saiyun Bio is committed to the development of cutting-edge international delivery carrier technologies and related innovative drug therapies, aiming to provide a novel approach for precise drug delivery. The company has developed a class of natural delivery systems that, through rational modification, can directly deliver various types of payloads, such as functional proteins, into specific cells. This delivery system offers advantages such as high specificity in cell recognition, high compatibility and protection for payloads, and low production costs.

This round of financing was jointly led by CDH Investments/Life Park Venture Capital Fund and IDG Capital, with participation from INNO Angel Fund and other entities.

Details Review:Saiyun Bio Completes Tens of Millions of Angel Financing, Aiding Development of Novel Delivery Vector Drugs

YiMing Bio

Nearly 200 Million Yuan in Financing

Yiming Biotech, established in 2015, is a research and production-oriented biotechnology company dedicated to the development and application of ATMPs technology, providing one-stop CDMO comprehensive solutions for innovative pharmaceutical enterprises. Notably, Yiming Biotech successfully settled into Zhongguancun Life Science Park in October 2024.

This Pre-D round of financing was jointly invested by the Beijing Changping Industrial Development Investment Fund and the Beijing Medical and Health Industry Investment Fund, marking another round of financing obtained by Yiming Biotech after the C+ round in April 2023.

Details Review:Nearly 200 Million Yuan! Umin Biotech Successfully Completes New Round of Financing

In addition,BeiGene and Shijiazhuang Pharmaceutical Group Reach a Licensing Collaboration for Cancer Drug Candidate Worth Over $1.8 BillionAccording to the agreement and in accordance with its terms and conditions, CSPC Group agrees to grant BeiGene exclusive rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialize the compound and the product globally.

Novo Nordisk Agrees to Acquire Cardior Pharmaceuticals for Up to 1.025 Billion EurosThis agreement includes Cardior's lead compound CDR132L, which is currently in Phase 2 clinical development for heart failure.

Note: This article is sorted by financing time; data comes from public information, and we apologize for any omissions.