CureGene Announces Completion of Series B Fund Raising accelerating Global Clinical Development
Shanghai, China, January 31, 2024 - CureGene, a leading innovator in drug development, proudly announces the successful completion of a billion-yuan Series B funding round. It was spearheaded by TaiKun Fund, a subsidiary of TaiLong Investment, with participation from other major investors including LiChen Investment and TaiYu Investment. Previous investors such as HongHai ChuangJian and HanKang Capital was also instrumental in this achievement. The capital raised will primarily be directed primarily towards propelling the pivotal clinical advancements of CureGene's flagship cardiovascular asset, CG-0255, and hastening the regulatory submissions for other key products.
Against the backdrop of a cooling global pharmaceutical industry and challenging times for Biotechs, CureGene 's ability to successfully complete this critical financing round demonstrates the capital market's recognition of the company's team capabilities and its core pipeline. This further attests to the company's innovative strength and development potential.
Founded in Zhangjiang, Shanghai, in 2018, CureGene has successfully established globally advanced targeted prodrug technology platforms and oligonucleic acids drug technology platforms. The company has continuously made efforts in the field of small molecules and oligonucleic acids drugs, successfully launching multiple innovative drug pipelines with huge market potential and global independent intellectual property rights. The company's pipelines include core products such as a new generation of antiplatelet drugs and several antiviral drugs, which are being rapidly advanced towards global clinical development.
CG-0255, an independently developed product by CureGene through its targeted prodrug technology platform, is an innovatively designed P2Y12 receptor antagonist antiplatelet drug with the potential to become a Best-in-Class drug. The company is advancing the clinical development of both intravenous injection and oral tablet formulations for various indications such as acute coronary syndrome, myocardial infarction, and stroke, to meet a wide range of clinical needs. CG-0255 has completed Phase I clinical trials for both IV injection and oral tablet formulations in the United States, and the relevant clinical results were recently presented at the 2023 American Heart Association (AHA) annual meeting.
In addition to the cardiovascular field, CureGene has also made significant achievements in the antiviral therapies, with breakthrough progresses in areas including anti-RSV virus infection drug, broad-spectrum respiratory antiviral drug, and functional cures for chronic hepatitis B. These advancements have the potential to open up tremendous clinical potential for the company.
Gongxin He，PH.D
Founder and CEO
Dr. He Gongxin, CureGene’s Founder and CEO, expressed his profound gratitude:" We are immensely thankful to our investors for their unwavering support and confidence. This funding round is a testament to the capital market's acknowledgment of CureGene's intrinsic value and our commitment to independent innovation in drug development. The influx of capital will expedite our international clinical endeavors and bolster our core team's capabilities. Guided by our mission, CureGene remains dedicated to addressing unmet clinical needs and aspires to collaborate closely with our investors and partners to expedite our global outreach, benefiting patients and enriching society."
About CureGene
Founded in 2018, CureGene possesses core platform technology and efficient independent innovation capabilities. The company currently focuses on cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, antiviral treatment, and other therapeutic areas, with a commitment to becoming an innovative pharmaceutical company rooted in China and expanding globally. Leveraging its platform technology, CureGene has successfully developed multiple innovative drug pipelines with huge market potential and independent global intellectual property rights. The company is actively advancing the clinical development of multiple pipelines. Driven by its mission and vision, CureGene has attracted a team of high-level scientists and overseas talents with a global perspective. Under the company's comprehensive strategic layout, CureGene has successfully achieved rapid and efficient transformation of research and development achievements, with its pipelines having the potential to become First-in-Class or Best-in-Class drugs.
About TaiLong Investment
TaiLong Investment was founded in 2021 as a professional equity investment management institution specializing in the fields of biopharmaceuticals, medical devices, and healthcare, with a fund management scale of RMB 20 billion. TaiLong Investment boasts a professional and experienced investment team that focuses on biopharmaceuticals, innovative medical devices, CXO core services and innovative areas, as well as outstanding biopharmaceutical industry funds. The company aims to build a science-loyal, cross-cycle value investment platform for the biopharmaceutical industry.
Founded in 2021, Licheng Investment is a professional institution specializing in early-stage investment in the field of innovative biopharmaceuticals. With the goal of meeting rigid clinical needs, Licheng Investment aims to collaborate with enterprises and entrepreneurs possessing independent intellectual property rights and globally leading technologies, growing alongside them to develop products and solutions that can bring clinical benefits, ultimately benefiting patients and society.
About TaiYu Investment
TaiYu Investment focuses on equity investments in the early and growth stages of the healthcare sector. The management team boasts profound industry backgrounds, extensive industry resources, and rich investment experience. So far, it has completed investments totaling over RMB 2 billion in over 100 projects, with its investment portfolio covering medical devices, biopharmaceuticals, CROs, and health foods. Through enabling its invested enterprises, TaiYu Investment creates value for the development of the healthcare industry in China and globally, making contributions to public health.
HanKang Capital is a venture capital fund that focuses on the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry. With the mission of "Enabling Pharmaceutical Innovation and Safeguarding Human Health," the fund partners with top-tier scientists and entrepreneurs to jointly develop breakthrough new drugs for treating major diseases. Based in China with a global perspective, HanKang Capital has invested in multiple companies that have grown to become industry leaders, such as Nuocheng Jianhua (09969.HK, 688428.SH), Kangfang Biotechnology (09926.HK), Keymed Biosciences (02162.HK), Microchip Biotechnology (688321.SH), Heyu Pharmaceutical (02256.HK), and Aopumai (688293.SH).