CICC leads $60m Series B for China's Grit Biotechnology

Qianhai Ark, Liando Group, Yuanhe Capital, HeFangTian Venture also joined the round as new investors, while there were re-ups from Sherpa Healthcare Partners, Decheng Capital, and Matrix Partners China.

Grit received seed funding in 2020 from Hengqin Financial Investment, according to AVCJ Research. This was followed by a Series A of approximately CNY 100m (USD 15.3m) later the same year from Decheng, Matrix, and Sherpa. GL Capital, the VC unit of Hillhouse Group, led a Series A extension of undisclosed size in 2021 with participation from Apricot Capital, Junshi Biosciences, Decheng, and Matrix.

Founded in 2019, Grit claims to have the fastest-developing TIL therapy in China, GT101, which is scheduled to enter phase-two clinical trials by year-end. The new funding will support those trials and the advancement of next-generation gene-edited TIL products, a statement said.

TILs are white blood cells that leave the bloodstream and penetrate solid tumours. They emerged as an experimental cell therapy because they come directly from the tumour and already recognise many targets on cancer cells. In contrast, CAR T-cells must be engineered to recognise just one or two targets. TILs are enriched through in vitro culturing and then turned into customised drugs.

Grit has four core technology platforms for TIL development. StemTexp is a cell enrichment platform used to produce GT101. The others – StaViral, KOReTIL, and ImmuT Finder – are for next-generation treatments. They include a retroviral system for tailored TIL engineering, high-throughput screening to identify and test targets for TIL, and genome-wide CRISPR screening.

The company recently began phase-one trials for GT201, a genetically engineered solution said to surpass traditional TIL therapies in proliferation, tumour-killing, and persistence. The first next-generation product, GT316, is currently undergoing investigator-initiated trials. It is intended to deliver substantial clinical benefits by reducing harmful side effects and minimising dosage toxicity.

Grit currently has more than 100 professionals working out of a 10,000-square-metre cell therapy manufacturing facility in Suzhou.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Early-stage
• Healthcare
• China
• CICC
• Qianhai FoF
• Sherpa Healthcare Partners
• Matrix Partners
• Pharmaceuticals