The first time, Rongcan Bio completed tens of millions of Pre.

Recently, Rongcan Bio, an independent innovation platform enterprise of nucleic acid technology, announced the completion of tens of millions of RMB Pre-A round of financing. This round of financing was led by a well-known medical and health professional fund, and Haoyue Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor for this round of financing. This round of financing will help Rongcan Bio accelerate product research and development and team building, and promote the leading pipeline to enter clinical research.

Rongcan Bio was founded in June, 2020 by a team of experts from China and a senior returnee. The founding team has decades of experience in the nucleic acid industry, and has successfully designed and developed LNP carriers with completely independent intellectual property rights, and signed with Professor Robert Langer, and obtained the patent authorization for new cationic lipid carriers in the United States (the founder of Rongcan was the first inventor). It is also a rare team in China to jointly develop cationic lipid carriers with Professor Robert Langer and obtain the patent authorization in the United States. The cationic lipid developed by the company has been recognized by experts in the field of nucleic acid delivery around the world, and the research and development results used to study the delivery of mRNA and siRNA drugs have been published in top international journals such as Science Translation Medicine, Nature Biomedical Engineering, PNAS and Science Advances.

The global outbreak of COVID-19 epidemic has accelerated the development of mRNA technology, and its technical feasibility and advantages have also been recognized by the industry. For mRNA drugs, it is the key to develop an efficient and safe drug delivery system. LNP is one of the most mature delivery systems for mRNA drug research and application, which has many advantages, such as high encapsulation efficiency, good cell transfection efficiency, strong tissue penetration, low cytotoxicity and immunogenicity, and has been successfully applied to many commercial products.

As the "soul" of mRNA drug delivery, LNP’s patent has a very high challenge barrier, and the international dispute about LNP’s patent continues.The protection of LNP patent mainly includes three aspects: firstly, the chemical structure of cationic lipid in LNP is protected, which is also the core of LNP patent; Secondly, protect the molar ratio between cationic lipid molecules and other components in LNP, including the ratio between different lipids and the ratio of cationic lipid to mRNA; The last patent also provides protection for the use of LNP.. If enterprises want to get rid of the existing LNP patent restrictions completely, they must take the road of completely independent innovation and look for a brand-new cationic liposome structure and its component formula.

As a nucleic acid R&D enterprise with super patent moat of LNP in China, the company has achieved the breakthrough of cationic lipid structure, proportion of preparation components and application patents of indications at the same time, developed an independent and commercialized LNP delivery system, and completed the global FTO investigation and analysis, with the right to freely implement it on a global scale. Based on the innovative cationic lipid compound library, Rong can has evaluated and screened 5000+ LNPs in vivo through animal experiments. The clinical data of head animal experiments show that the delivery efficiency, safety, cost and accessibility of LNP independently developed by the company are comparable to or better than those of international head enterprises; At the same time, the delivery system has good stability, can be stored at low temperature, greatly reduces the storage and transportation costs, and has a wide range of application scenarios.

It is worth noting that,Rongcan has achieved a breakthrough in LNP targeting for extrahepatic organs, and it is a rare research and development enterprise in China with targeting for atherosclerotic plaques and lung targeting LNP. Preclinical studies have verified that LNP developed by the company can achieve specific extrahepatic targeted delivery and produce excellent therapeutic effects in animal models..

In addition, in September this year, the company was awarded the "Key Project" of the National Biomedical Technology Innovation Center (the first national technical innovation center in the field of biomedicine approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology in March 2021), a key technical research project for nucleic acid drugs. In this national biomedical technology innovation project, 169 famous pharmaceutical companies and scientific research institutions, including many mRNA companies, hospitals and scientific research institutes, participated in the application. Rongcan Bio is listed in the list of eight major key projects, and only two enterprises including Rongcan Bio are selected as major key projects in Shanghai.

Founder of rongcan biologySaid that we are honored to receive the support of professional medical investment funds this round. The application prospect of mRNA technology is broad. For mRNA R&D enterprises, the delivery system with independent innovation is the most difficult technical problem to solve at present. We believe that only by attaching importance to source innovation, improving our own scientific and technological strength and building a platform for the whole industry chain can we win a place in the global mRNA competition. Rongcan Bio-team has decades of experience in the research and development of nucleic acid drugs, and has established a platform for the research and development of nucleic acid delivery vectors with truly independent innovation patents. At present, it is cooperating with well-known domestic vaccine companies and research and development institutions in the hope of further benefiting patients.

Mr. Li Yishi, Senior Partner of Haoyue CapitalIt is indicated that the epidemic situation has accelerated the appearance of COVID-19 vaccine of mRNA, which has attracted special attention. The potential of nucleic acid drugs has been gradually tapped, and its delivery technology has become the key to the research and development of nucleic acid drugs. At present, the team that truly masters the key technology of LNP delivery is very scarce in the world. Rongcan Bio-team has a deep technical accumulation in the field of nucleic acid delivery and has been recognized by top scientists around the world. We are optimistic about Rongcan as a platform-based company, and constantly expand its technology application scenarios. Even in the downward market environment, high-quality companies in the frontier track like Rongcan Bio will still be recognized by capital.

About rongcan biology

Rongcan Bio was founded in June 2020, and is committed to the development and industrialization of new mRNA drugs. The company has established a whole process research and development system covering mRNA sequence design and synthesis technology, lipid chemistry, LNP preparation research and development and amplification technology, analysis method development and verification, and biological evaluation platform; It also has a pilot production line of GMP-compliant mRNA stock solution and LNP preparation, with a total area of about 4,000 square meters, which meets the needs of IND research and development and clinical phase I~II sample production.

The founding team of Rongcan completed the postdoctoral research work of joint training in MIT and Harvard Medical School, and has more than 10 years of research and development experience in nucleic acid delivery carrier technology, and established a nucleic acid delivery technology platform with independent intellectual property rights. The delivery technology platform is not only suitable for vaccine development, but also breaks through the common liver accumulation limitation of nucleic acid delivery, realizes specific targeted delivery for atherosclerotic plaques and hepatic stellate cells, and develops the first inhalable nucleic acid nano-delivery system for lung administration in China.

Rongcan Bio has internationally competitive nucleic acid delivery carrier technology and mRNA biotechnology platform, and is currently cooperating with well-known domestic vaccine companies and R&D institutions to achieve strategic development through technology licensing, cooperative development and revenue sharing.

About Haoyue Capital

Haoyue Capital, founded in January 2014, is a leading industrial investment bank focusing on the medical and health industry in China. The company is headquartered in Shanghai, with regional offices in Beijing and Shenzhen. Haoyue Capital has always been committed to helping outstanding enterprises in China medical industry to successfully connect with the capital market and create added value for customers with the help of capital and driven by research. Haoyue Capital’s partner team consists of senior investment bankers who have been deeply involved in China’s medical and health field for many years, with more than 70 professional teams. Haoyue Capital has been closely tracking the market dynamics and investment trends of medical and health investment for a long time, and its research fields and trading scope cover innovative medicine, innovative medical devices, IVD and life sciences, health services and smart medical care. In 2021, Haoyue Capital completed more than 50 complex transactions of private equity financing, mergers and acquisitions integration and the spin-off of listed companies, with a total transaction amount of tens of billions of RMB, leading the way in all segments of the medical industry.