uBriGene Biosciences Inc. completes several hundred million yuan Series C round funding, focusing on global cell & gene therapy and construction of a one-stop CDMO platform
uBriGene Biosciences Inc. (“uBriGene”), a biotechnology company committed to the development of cell and gene therapy products, announced the completion of its Series C round of financing on September 27, 2022, during which it raised several hundred million yuan (over CAD 20 million). The financing was co-led by the National Manufacturing Transformation and Upgrade Fund and Jinshi Health Fund (both under Jinshi Investment) and CLSA Capital’s flagship Chinese Market USD Fund. Additional new investors also include BGI Co-Win, CIB Capital (China Investment Bank), Wenzhou Capital, Yuanchuang Capital and others. Existing investors Huagai Capital, Beijing FOF Capital, IDG Capital also provided additional funding. This round of financing is another milestone in the rapid and steady development of uBriGene Biosciences Inc., and a strong acknowledgement of investors towards the development strategies and the vision of company for CDMO services within the cell & gene therapy (CGT) field.
The proceeds from the Series C financing will be used to advance the construction of our Regional Headquarters in Vancouver Canada, and CMC research and development centers in the US, further strengthening uBriGene’s global presence. Additionally, the funding help accelerate uBriGene’s key initiatives for providing a one-stop CDMO service platform, while increasing the production capacity of GMP AAV, plasmids, lentivirus, CAR-T, iPSC and other products. With the series C funding, the domestic and international development and innovation of CGT vector technology and processes will be strongly promoted.
uBriGene is committed to one-top CDMO CGT services and GMP plant construction in China. Since the start of operations in March 2022, the uBriGene CDMO plant in Suzhou has been steadily operating and has established several strategic partnerships with multiple customers. The facility in Suzhou covers an area of 9000m2, with advance process development and production floors, and dozens of GMP production lines. The capacity of its eukaryotic cell culturing is on the scales of 50L-200L-500L-2000L. The capacity of its prokaryotic fermentation scales is 10L-50L-200L. The facility also possesses advanced purification technologies. With all the pipelines and technologies, uBriGene is making great strides to secure high-quality one-stop CDMO services.
Dr. Xiulian Sun, President and CTO of uBriGene, said: “We are very grateful for the support and recognition from our new investors. We thank all our shareholders for their continuous trust and support. Our gratitude also goes to our team members for their everlasting efforts and contributions, and to our long-term partners for their trust and support. The CGT industry has entered a golden era of industrialization. uBriGene, with its talented team, abundant industrialization experience, unique technical advantages, and comprehensive facilities and services, has produced leading accomplishments with its partners. Among our collaborative projects, two gene therapy IND projects have successfully obtained Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE) approval and entered clinical trials. One IND project has also been accepted by CDE. We will continue to improve our management capabilities. Based on our CMC R&D development centers in the US, we will not only cultivate more professional technical platforms, but also optimize our current five core platforms: plasmid preparation, viral preparation, cell therapy drug preparation, industrial development, and quality control. We will strengthen our pioneering capabilities in foreign markets to provide excellent CDMO for our customers across global markets. Our goal is to make people’s lives healthier and make the world a better place”.
Mr. Bofeng Hu, Jinshi Investment Vice General Manager, and Director of CLSA Capital said: “CGT development has entered a stage of rapid growth in China and globally. uBriGene, as a leading CGT CDMO company in China, focuses on viral vector R&D and large-scale production process development. It has built a one-stop, large-scale GMP production system that serves gene and drug development companies. uBriGene has accelerated fundamental research, drug discovery, clinical trails, and commercialization in the field of gene therapy. The company has also helped accelerate the development of gene therapy in China”.
Ms. Xuan Fang, Director of Jinshi Investment Medical Investments Department said: “Cell and gene therapy is at the forefront of next-generation biotechnology. The results of CGT make it possible to serve as a cure for patients. However, CGT drugs are difficult to produce and are limited by geographical factors. Therefore, improving process development and production is an important factor to overcome the bottleneck of the CGT drugs commercialization in China. This step will be beneficial to Chinese patients”.
“Jinshi Investment, on behalf of the National Manufacturing Transformation and Upgrade Fund and other leading funds, continues to search for the best entrepreneurial teams in this field. We hope that the uBriGene team will continue to exhibit their technical strengths, which have been proven over time. We hope that uBriGene will help strengthen the technical know-how and production chain security of this field in China, accelerate the drug application progress for downstream clients, and benefit more Chinese patients”, he added.
Mr. Yi Zhang, Managing Partner of Huagai Medical Foundation at Yangtze River Delta, said: “CGT will become the direction with the most potential of the biomedical development initiatives. CDMO companies provide strategic support for this field. Huagai Capital has also been focusing on the CGT commercialization. We fully understand the importance of the GMP process. As an excellent start-up in this field in China, uBriGene has its own production systems in accordance with international standards and a reliable and progressive management team. The cooperation of Huagai Capital and uBriGene will help uBriGene become an influential international one-stop R&D CDMO CGT platform. We will contribute to the development of CGT industrial chains in China”.
About Jinshi Investment
Jinshi Investment was founded in October 2007. It is a fully funded subsidiary company under CITIC Securities. It is a domestic, private equity investment platform. The investments of Jinshi Investment include industrial energy, high-end manufacturing, TMT projects, new materials, healthcare, the military industry, and other key industries. Since its founding, Jinshin Investments demonstrated an outstanding investment performance. Currently, Jinshi Investment has more than 30 consolidated management funds. It is one of China’s leading private equity investment foundation management institutions with a management scale exceeds RMB 240 billion.
About CLSA Capital
CLSA Capital was established in 1995. It is the only fully funded USD private equity investment platform of CITIC Securities. CLSA Capital established the flagship Chinese market USD private equity investment, Chinese Growth Foundation, and thus, by leveraging CITIC Securities’ and primary market resources in China, the Foundation provides one-stop services for global clients in the Chinese primary market. CLSA Capital invests in strategic emerging industries, including healthcare, the TMT sector, smart manufacturing, and new energy projects. Through the rigorous selection of quality projects, CLSA Capital generates superior investment returns for global investors.
About uBriGene Biosciences Inc.
uBriGene Biosciences Inc. is dedicated to providing one-stop viral vector-based CDMO services for research and clinical applications. It has established integrated innovative biologics CDMO platforms that provide GMP-level plasmid preparation, viral packaging, and T-cell production services for large-scale CAR-T productions.
In addition, the company also provides viral vectors, including adenoviral and lentiviral vectors to meet the demands of research and/or manufacturing applications.
With its fermentation capacity ranging from 5L to 500L, uBriGene offers a versatile selection of research-grade, GMP-ready, or GMP-grade plasmids for research and clinical applications respectively.
uBriGene has an established global footprint with two GMP manufacturing facilities in China and Regional Headquarters in Vancouver, Canada. The newly acquired state-of-the-art facility in greater Boston area, has the GMP manufacturing capacity to serve the cell and gene therapies, as well as providing contract analytical services.