Apr. 21, 2021 --
EdiGene, Inc. ("Company", or "EdiGene"), today announced the successful completion of an RMB 400 million (approximately USD 62 million) Series B Plus financing. Loyal Valley Capital led the round and other new investors included BioTrack Capital and Sherpa Healthcare Partners, along with continued support by existing investors including IDG Capital, Lilly Asia Venture, 3H Health Investment, Huagai Capital, Sequoia Capital China, Alwin Capital and Kunlun Capital. EdiGene is a biotech company develops genome editing technologies to accelerate drug discovery and develop novel therapeutics for a broad range of diseases. Previously the company completed a Series B Financing of an RMB 450 million (approximately USD 67 million) in October 2020. Proceeds from the financing will be used to advance the company's pipeline into clinics and to scale up the business operation.
Andy Lin, Founding Partner of Loyal Valley Capital commented: "Gene-editing, as one of the most exciting technologies in life science, has showcased huge potential in treating or curing various diseases in recent years and may fundamentally transform the current ways of disease treatment in the future. As the leading company in China in translating gene-editing technologies into innovative therapies, EdiGene has assembled a team of world-class researchers and experienced drug developers to develop and commercialize such assets, with full scientific rigor and quality. With their lead product receiving the first gene-editing therapy IND application approval in China, their pipeline addresses serious unmet medical needs with innovative and creative approaches. Investing in EdiGene fits very well with our value of 'investing in and fostering leaders that make the world a better place'. We are honored to lead the round and join force with EdiGene and other investors to bring effective and accessible innovative therapies to patients in China and globally. We look forward to supporting the company in financing, scaling up development capabilities, linking up key resources upstream and downstream and collaborating with global partners, helping the company to become a global player in research and translation of gene editing technologies."
In January 2021, the Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE) of China National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) has approved EdiGene's Investigational New Drug (IND) application for ET-01, an investigational CRISPR/Cas 9 gene-editing therapy for patients with transfusion dependent β-thalassemia. It marks the first gene-editing therapy and the first hematopoietic stem cell therapy IND application approval in China. The Company is preparing to initiate ET-01's Phase I clinical trial, and furthermore, is advancing other assets including allogeneic CAR-T therapy, in vivo therapies based on RNA base editing technology LEAPERTM, as well as novel targeted therapies discovered through high-throughput genome-editing screening.
About EdiGene, IncEdiGene is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on leveraging the cutting-edge genome editing technologies to accelerate drug discovery and develop novel therapeutics for a broad range of genetic diseases and cancer. The company has established its proprietary ex vivo genome-editing platforms for hematopoietic stem cells and T cells, in vivo therapeutic platform based on RNA base editing, and high-throughput genome-editing screening to discover novel targeted therapies. Founded in 2015, EdiGene is headquartered in Beijing, with offices in Guangzhou and Shanghai, China and Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Source: Oceanpine Capital
