Healthcare Industry Weekly|"Sylan Pharmaceutical" received nearly 100 million yuan in Series A+ financing, and "Dome Medical" received tens of millions of yuan in Pre-A round financing

In recent years, innovation in the medical and health industry has been emerging and developing into one of the most active industries, 36Kr has witnessed and accompanied the growth of innovative enterprises in this field and brought professional voices to the industry.

To this end, 36Kr has launched the column "Medical and Health Industry Weekly", which will be released regularly in the future, providing readers with industry information from multiple perspectives such as capital, policy, finance, and new products.

On January 2, please check the weekly report of the medical and health industry. This weekly report includes the financing news reported by the "36Kr Venture Capital Channel" in the medical and health field last week.

Financing investments

• "Sailan Pharmaceutical" received nearly 100 million yuan in Series A+ financing

The epigenetic track company "Sailan Pharmaceutical" recently completed nearly 100 million yuan in Series A+ financing, co-led by Dachen Caizhi Fund and Hangzhou Heda Fund. This round of financing is mainly used to accelerate the clinical development of multiple products and improve the R&D platform of EpigenPLUS epigenetics technology. It is understood that Wu Haiping, the founder of Sailan Pharmaceutical, has been responsible for the research and development of a number of innovative tumor epigenetics therapies at Novartis and has more than 10 years of experience in epigenetics research; co-founder Mi Yuan has worked in GNF and Novartis, leading a number of innovative drug pipelines into the clinical development and marketing stage; and Academician Xu Guoliang, the scientific founder, has been deeply engaged in epigenetics research fields such as DNA methylation regulation and histone modification for many years and has a significant international influence.

36 Krypton debut | To develop tumor epigenetics treatment technology, "Cyran Pharmaceutical" received nearly 100 million yuan in Series A+ financing

• Dome Medical received tens of millions of yuan in Pre-A round of financing

Recently, Dome Medical (full name: Xi'an Dome Medical Technology Co., Ltd.) completed a Pre-A round of financing of tens of millions of yuan, co-led by Shaanxi Investment Growth Fund and Oriza Origin, followed by Zhongxin Group, Xi'an Finance and Xi'an Talent Development Fund, and continued to be injected by Fengrui and Shunwei. It is understood that Dome Medical was established in November 2019, focusing on non-invasive deep brain neuromodulation technology, and completed an angel round of financing at the beginning of this year, invested by Frees Capital and Shunwei Capital.

36 Krypton debut | Dome Medical received tens of millions of yuan in Pre-A round of financing to develop TI non-invasive deep brain stimulation products

• The continuous stream technology platform "Muson Technology" has received tens of millions of yuan in financing

Muson Technology, which focuses on the layout of continuous flow chemistry technology platform, recently completed a financing of tens of millions of yuan, led by Sinovation Works, followed by Qingsong Capital. The funds from this round of financing will be used for equipment system research and development, team expansion and industrialization acceleration. Nanjing Muson Continuous Flow Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Muson Technology") was established in June 2021, and the company's business involves continuous production methods of fine chemical and biomedical products, continuous environmental protection treatment, recycling, intelligent production control and other fields.

Continuous flow technology platform "Muson Technology" has received tens of millions of yuan in financing, green chemistry drives production transformation | 36 Kr Exclusive

• Winsome Biotech received $10 million in financing

"Huisheng Biotech" (full name: Fujian Huisheng Biotechnology Co., Ltd.) recently received 10 million yuan in financing, led by Zhangzhou Industry Guidance Sub-fund Centennial Xin Investment Equity Investment Fund. This round of financing will be used to expand the production capacity of tobacco enzyme preparations and the market development of probiotics and other products. Huang Qinmiao, the founder of Huisheng Biologics, Xi studied at Xiamen University, and established cooperation with the Third Institute of Oceanography of the Ministry of Natural Resources, and expanded biological enzymes, probiotics and other projects based on the cooperation. At present, Huisheng Biotech focuses on the development of a series of products with marine microorganisms as chassis strains, covering the whole chain from laboratory research and development links such as strain screening and strain directional transformation of marine microorganisms, pilot scale-up and industrial mass production, to efficacy and drug performance evaluation and sales promotion.

Huisheng Biotech received financing of 10 million yuan to develop marine microbial strain active substances 36 Kr Exclusive

• "Yinghua Chenrui" received tens of millions of yuan in angel round financing

"Yinghua Chenrui" recently received tens of millions of yuan in angel round financing, led by Linear Capital, followed by Blue Crystal Microorganisms, and Mentor Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor. Founded in August 2022, the main business is high-performance modification and application innovation of biomaterials, and the R&D team accounts for more than 60% at this stage. The founder, Dr. Zhou Zhen, was the general manager of the Asia-Pacific channel of Saint-Gobain, a Fortune 500 company, responsible for R&D, product and sales, and has rich experience in industry and business. The co-founder team also has a certain accumulation in scientific research and development and business promotion. At the same time, a senior consultant team composed of university scholars and industry experts has been established.

"Invar Chenrui" received tens of millions of yuan in angel round financing, exporting high-performance modification capabilities of biomaterials 36 Krypton starters

• "Pader Biotech" received tens of millions of yuan in Pre-A round financing

Peptide drug research and development company "Pader Bio" recently completed tens of millions of yuan in Pre-A round of financing, led by Sichuan Development Academician Fund, followed by Huaxi Securities and other institutions, this round of financing is mainly used for the research and development of new peptide drug pipelines. Founded in May 2021, Pader Biotech has built a 100-million-level natural polypeptide library of toxic animals. Based on the animal venom peptide directional mining system, Pader Biotech screens and develops peptide drugs through the "high-throughput + cloud computing" screening platform and AI technology. According to 36Kr, the company will self-develop new peptide drugs in the direction of anti-infection and cardiovascular diseases, and the candidate drugs for other indications will be considered for transfer after a certain stage of development.

"Pater Biotech" received tens of millions of yuan in Pre-A round financing to develop new peptide drugs based on animal toxins 36 Krypton starters

• "Worm Bio" completed an angel round of financing of tens of millions of yuan

"Insect Bio", which develops insect virus biopesticides, has received tens of millions of yuan in angel round financing, which was invested by October Capital. This round of financing is mainly used for investment in projects under construction, continued investment in core technology research and development, and product pipeline layout. The core technology of insect biology comes from the insect virus research team of the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, which has been engaged in the research of microbial insect viruses for many years. The company's technical team is led by Chen Xinwen, a national outstanding young man, and is composed of researchers, associate researchers and other scientific research workers to ensure the leading edge of core technology and continuous research and development capabilities. Zhu Xiaoguang, general manager of Insect Biology, is engaged in the sales of biological/chemical instruments and equipment, the creation of biomedical platforms and chemical platforms in Shanghai Johnson & Johnson and other companies, and has rich experience in engineering creation and marketing.

"Insect Bio" completed an angel round of financing of tens of millions of yuan to promote the industrialization of insect virus biopesticides 36 Krypton starters

• The first oral drug for Gaucher disease of "Gloria Tiancheng" was included in the medical insurance, and the annual fee paid by patients was reduced to 100,000 yuan

The entry of aglastat into medical insurance has brought a glimmer of hope to patients to a certain extent. According to the data released by the National Health Insurance Administration, the price of an 84mg capsule of Aglastat is 381 yuan, which is almost 1/10 of the price of foreign products with the same generic name. According to this calculation, the actual out-of-pocket expenses of patients after reimbursement can be reduced to less than 100,000 yuan.

36Kr learned that after the 2023 national talks, Gaucher disease patients asked each other almost every day when this medical insurance drug would be available and follow-up payment questions.

Recently, Wang Lu, the relevant person in charge of Kailai Tiancheng, also responded to some of the questions that patients are concerned about when talking with 36Kr about the research and development process of igostat......

海外 New Things

• 海外 New Things | Kimia Therapeutics获5500万美元A轮融资，打造平台研发抗癌药物

Kimia Therapeutics is an innovative drug developer based in California, USA, focused on discovering new therapeutic targets and developing new drugs for the treatment of cancer and immune diseases.

On December 19, the company announced that it had completed a $55 million Series A funding round. The round was led by The Column Group and Dimension, with participation from Horizons Ventures and other retail investors. The funding will enable Kimia to expand its ATLAS platform and pursue a broad range of therapeutic targets in oncology, immunology and biomedicine.

Kimia Therapeutics was spun off from Carmot in January 2023 and co-founded by co-founders Stig K. Hansen, Jack Sadowsky, and Ray Fucini. Kimia Therapeutics combines high-throughput precision chemistry with genome editing and machine Xi to develop a series of novel drugs that identify druggable sites at key points in human disease intervention. Currently, Kimia is building a next-generation therapeutic drug discovery platform called ATLAS. ATLAS is a high-throughput chemistry platform that combines automated synthesis and screening, enabling Kimia to instantly access billions of drug-like compounds......

• 海外 New Things | ModeX Therapeutics获1.68亿美元融资，研发针对癌症和传染病的多特异性抗体

ModeX Therapeutics is a biotechnology company headquartered in Massachusetts, USA, focused on the development of multispecific immunotherapies for cancer and infectious diseases.

On December 26, ModeX Therapeutics announced that it has signed a contract with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Strategic Preparedness and Response Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), to receive an initial investment of $59 million to discover and characterize novel therapeutic antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. The investment builds on ModeX's collaboration with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Vaccine Research Center, and upon reaching certain milestones, BARDA will provide additional investments for a total of $168 million to develop multispecific antibodies against other viral pathogens, such as influenza. As part of the research program, gene-based multispecific antibody delivery methods will be developed using mRNA or DNA vectors to take advantage of the body's native protein production process......

• Overseas New Things | Heranova Lifesciences has raised $13.5 million in seed funding to optimize the diagnosis and treatment of endometriosis in women

Heranova Lifesciences is a medical technology company headquartered in Massachusetts, USA, that provides integrated and innovative solutions to women's health issues.

On December 28, Heranova Lifesciences announced the successful closing of a $13.5 million seed round to develop and deliver integrated women's health solutions globally. Institutional investors including Pivotal bioVenture Partners China, Sinovation Ventures, Emerging Technology Partners, and Triwise Capital participated in the round. The funding will be used to launch a series of non-invasive endometriosis testing programs and advance two innovative (non-hormonal and non-antibiotic) treatments for endometriosis and bacterial vaginosis.

Heranova Lifesciences focuses on developing integrated care solutions for women's health. Its goal is to address unmet needs in the field of women's health by providing diagnostics, drugs and devices developed internally and collaboratively with external partners. Founded in 2022, the company is comprised of a group of serial entrepreneurs and experienced multinational executives, backed by a world-class scientific advisory board. Currently, Heranova has established operations in the United States and Asia......

• Overseas New Things | Atavistik Bio raises $40 million in funding to accelerate allosteric small molecule drug discovery with AI

Atavistik Bio is a biotechnology company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, dedicated to the discovery of precision xenobiotic therapies.

On December 23, Atavistik Bio announced that it had secured $40 million in funding. The Column Group, Lux Capital, and Nextech Invest participated in the round. To date, the company has raised a total of $100 million. The Company intends to use the proceeds from the financing to advance its leading-edge precision isomeric small molecule therapeutics for oncology to the clinic and advance its early-stage pipeline.

Founded in August 2021, Atavistik Bio is developing a new generation of precision ectopic therapeutics inspired by the body's natural regulators. By combining proprietary screening technologies that leverage the body's natural regulators with an AI-powered drug discovery platform, the company is able to efficiently discover novel, biologically relevant isomorphic sites of protein or RNA targets and rapidly translate structural insights into small molecule therapeutics design......

• Overseas New Things | Knownwell has raised $20 million in Series A funding to provide weight management for obese patients

Knownwell is a Massachusetts-based primary care and metabolic health company that researches primary care and weight control solutions.

On December 24, Knownwell announced that it had closed a $20 million Series A funding round led by A16Z with participation from existing investors, including Flare Capital Partners. The funding brings Knownwell's total funding to $24.5 million.

Knownwell was founded by Brooke Boyarsky Pratt and Dr. Angela Fitch, president of the Obesity Medical Society. The couple combined their own personal experiences to create this weight care company, which is clinically and patient-oriented, working with patients to achieve long-term results. The funding will help Knownwell further refine its enterprise solutions, partnering with healthcare systems, payers, and employers to provide weight-inclusive care through telehealth and the company's brick-and-mortar clinics, expand its clinic and telehealth services, and conduct product development, including the incorporation of AI-driven patient stratification, asynchronous communication, and provider workflow tools into its care model. The company accepts patient insurance, provides a full suite of care services with no membership fees, and will also provide on-site and virtual weight-inclusive medical services to patients across the United States who are facing undertreatment, deteriorating health, and increased costs. In addition, Knownwell has partnered with large pharmaceutical companies to conduct and participate in clinical trials......

• 海外 New Things | HOOKIPA Pharma获2125万美元融资，打造平台研发新型免疫疗法

HOOKIPA Pharma is a New York-based biotechnology company focused on the development of novel immunotherapies based on its proprietary arenavirus platform.

On December 24, HOOKIPA Pharma announced that Gilead Sciences purchased 15 million shares of HOOKIPA common stock at a price of $1.4167 per share, for a total consideration of approximately $21.25 million. In addition, HOOKIPA has the right to sell an additional $8.75 million of common stock to Gilead subject to certain terms and conditions as a pro rata portion of potential future equity financings. Joern Aldag, CEO of HOOKIPA, said: "Gilead Sciences has always been a big fan of our arenavirus platform. We recently received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for our investigational new drug application for HB-500, and this funding will help us begin Phase 1 trials in the first half of next year. ”

HOOKIPA Pharma is focused on developing novel immunotherapies based on its proprietary arenavirus platform, designed to mobilize and scale targeted T cells to combat or prevent severe disease. HOOKIPA's replication and non-replication technologies induce robust and long-lasting antigen-specific CD8+ T cell responses and pathogen-neutralizing antibodies. The Company's pipeline includes its wholly-owned investigational non-viral immunotherapies for human papillomavirus 16-positive cancers, prostate cancer, and other undisclosed programs. At this stage, HOOKIPA is collaborating with Roche to develop a non-viral immunotherapy for cancers with KRAS gene mutations. In addition, HOOKIPA plans to collaborate with Gilead Sciences to develop functional drugs for the treatment of HBV and HIV......

Focus analysis

• AstraZeneca's $1.2 billion purchase of Gracell Biologics, China's innovative pharmaceutical companies are coming

Towards the end of the year, the story of a multinational pharmaceutical company buying a Chinese innovative drug company has become the biggest news in China's pharmaceutical industry in 2023.

On the afternoon of December 26, Beijing time, AstraZeneca announced that it intends to acquire Gracell Biosciences (GRCL.US), a cell and gene therapy company, with a down payment of US$1 billion and a total price of US$1.2 billion, which is 86% higher than the closing price of Gracell on December 22 and nearly 200% higher than the volume-weighted average of the 60 days before the announcement, which is basically at the middle and upper reaches of the global innovative pharmaceutical company mergers and acquisitions this year.

As a result, China has also seen the emergence of the first biotech company to be fully acquired by a multinational pharmaceutical company.

"A good deal and a good start. Some medical investors commented: "Although there has been a bubble in China's pharmaceutical market in the past few years, there is no shortage of competitive companies that have come out. With the first acquisition, I believe that there will be a second or third company soon, but it is difficult to say whether it will be scaled up as a result. ”

According to the information disclosed by both parties, the acquisition will be completed in the first quarter of 2024, when Gracell will be delisted from Nasdaq and operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of AstraZeneca in China and the United States......

• Swallow the "mechanical capsule" and fill your stomach by vibration!

While a number of domestic companies are still pursuing the wealth behind GLP-1, the "miracle drug for weight loss", overseas scientists have begun to research "black technology" products that are more inclusive and have fewer side effects.

As the saying goes, "keep your mouth shut, open your legs" is a truth practiced by weight-loss people all over the world. But for most people, it is still a little difficult to insist on taking a step forward, and scientists who are well versed in this principle choose to help everyone work hard from "keeping their mouths shut". Recently, a team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) published a study in Science Advances: they designed an edible vibrating bioelectronic stimulator pill (Vibes machine capsule) ), which vibrates in the stomach to activate the organism's mechanoreceptors, producing a false feeling of satiety, which in turn reduces appetite......

• CAR-T ushers in the darkest moment?Dialogue with Fan Xiaohu: It's not the end of the road, but just begun|36Kr Interview

At the end of 2023, no one could have predicted that CAR-T therapy, which had always appeared in the public eye as an "anti-cancer miracle drug" in the past, would fall into an unprecedented tormenting environment.

Since November, there has been a wave of controversy over CAR-T therapy. First, the US FDA is suspected of raising the clinical data requirements for CAR-T therapy, and then the "carcinogenic turmoil" of CAR-T therapy continues to ferment. When it was transmitted to China, it coincided with the suspension of three clinical trials conducted by CARsgen in the United States, one of the leading companies in the field of CAR-T therapy, due to production problems, causing the stock price to plummet.

After a succession of negative information hits, there seems to be more pessimism about CAR-T therapy in the market.

After all, after small molecule and large molecule drugs, cell and gene therapy (CGT) represented by CAR-T is expected to become another major breakthrough in the field of life sciences, which can not only "cure cancer", but also potentially solve many difficult diseases. For enterprises, the layout of the CGT pipeline also means improving their bargaining power in the capital market.

Taking advantage of this delicate time gap, 36Kr chatted with Dr. Fan Xiaohu, the founder of Wandao Cell and the former founder/chief scientist of Legend Biotech, to review the trend of this innovative therapy, the current situation and the future direction of this innovative therapy in just 7 years since the first CAR-T was approved......

Editor: Hai Ruojing