China cell therapy developer Neukio raises $50m
Shanghai-based cell therapy developer Neukio Biotherapeutics has raised USD 50m in the first tranche of a Series A round led by medical technology-focused CD Capital. Other new investors include Alwin Capital and Surplus Capital.
Existing shareholders Lilly Asia Ventures, Sherpa Healthcare Partners, and IDG Capital re-upped. AVCJ Research's records show they provided USD 40m in angel funding in July 2021.
The fresh proceeds will accelerate the preclinical and clinical validation of its key pipeline asset, and support team recruitment, according to a statement.
Neukio was founded one month earlier by Richard Liqun Wang, formerly founding CEO of Fosun Kite Biotechnology. He is recognised for bringing China's first CAR T-cell therapy product - Yescarca or Axicabtagene Ciloleucel - to the market in less than four years.
CAR T-cell therapies involve extracting immune cells from a patient, modifying them, and then returning them to the host to attack tumours. The idea is to create a living medicine within the patient's body. At present, CAR T-cell therapies are customised for individual patients and therefore regarded as high cost.
Neukio focuses on next-generation CAR T-cell therapy, based on off-the-shelf stem cell technology. Off-the-shelf solutions use T-cells collected from healthy donors, not patients. It means therapies can be made available immediately instead of being manufactured for each patient.
Wang claims to have completed several signalling pathway modifications and CAR designs tailored for solid tumours. He has also made progress on innovative manufacturing processes. The company conducts R&D in-house and collaborates with global partners.
"The transition from traditional small molecules and antibodies to the era of cell therapy is a great leap in drug design and manufacturing capabilities of human being," CD Capital said in a statement.
"With the commercialisation of autologous CAR T-cell products, more and more improvement opportunities have emerged and need to be taken urgently."
G&G Capital served as the exclusive financial adviser for the funding round.
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