Chuangye.com learned that recently, Beijing Wujiahe Gene Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as: Wujiahe Gene) officially announced the completion of tens of millions of yuan in Series A financing. This round of financing was jointly invested by Huaiji Investment and Aopeng Investment***, with WinX Capital serving as the company’s exclusive financial advisor.
Founded in 2018, Wujiahe Gene is a viral vector gene drug pilot platform. With the mission of "making good medicines and making genetic drugs affordable to the people", it has long been committed to viral vector technology. Innovative research and development and industrialization of gene therapy drugs. The company's core technology and team originate from the Institute of Virology and the State Key Laboratory of Viral Genetic Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine Sciences. Wujiahe Gene has obtained a series of certifications such as Zhongguancun High-tech Enterprise, Zhongguancun High-Precision Industry Collaborative Innovation Platform, and Beijing Economic Development Zone Pilot Base.
The company’s business covers the preparation of genetic drugs from early stage research and development to new drug clinical trial application (pre-IND), and provides customers in the field of gene therapy with comprehensive services from process development, small trials, pilot trials, and clinical sample production. All-in-one CDMO solution. At present, the company has built 4,000 square meters of advanced production lines for clinical-grade virus vectors in Daxing Biomedical Industrial Park, covering adeno-associated virus (AAV), adenovirus (ADV), herpes simplex virus (HSV), and lentivirus (LV). and other mainstream viral vectors.
The company's technical team has achieved a series of important achievements, including: inventing a new AAV vector packaging system for herpes simplex virus helper virus plus cell lines; participating in the establishment of my country's AAV vector gene drug quality standards; being the first in my country Preparing genetic drugs for clinical trials of ophthalmic gene therapy; as the first domestic CDMO service team to provide HSV oncolytic viruses, we successfully prepare HSV products that meet the IND filing requirements of China, the United States and Australia for customers. The first drug was approved by the NMPA in July 2019 clinical. He has participated in many national-level scientific research projects, including 2 863 major key technologies, 1 major special project, 1 national science and technology support plan, 2 National Natural Fund projects, and 1 Beijing Natural Fund project.
Wujiahe Gene and its core team have focused on the research, development and production of gene therapy viral vectors for nearly 30 years. As one of the three internationally recognized inventors of adeno-associated virus (AAV) packaging systems, A leader in viral vector gene therapy. Members of the company's core team have participated in the establishment of China's AAV gene drug clinical product quality standards; the AAV8-HBV1.3 mouse hepatitis B model invented by the company has been widely used by major well-known pharmaceutical companies around the world for more than ten years, and has promoted the development of new hepatitis B drugs. It has become a watershed achievement in the industry; the company has completed the entire process of the country's first ophthalmic gene therapy drug from gene drug principle design to construction and production, helping researchers to win alone; it has helped the country's first new oncolytic virus T3011 pass clinical application and approval; over the years It provides clinical-grade new recombinant adenovirus products for adoptive immune cell therapy programs that treat more than 5,000 malignant tumor patients in domestic tertiary hospitals; in 2021, it completed multiple gene therapy IND application projects for multiple R&D teams.
After more than ten years of rigorous market tests in the cell and gene therapy industry at home and abroad, and with the rapid growth of nearly 30% in the global cell and gene therapy CDMO industry every year, Wujiahe Gene is unswervingly focused and determined. It has developed into the leading company in the domestic viral vector gene therapy CDMO industry. Not long ago, Sartorius, the world's leading provider of complete bioprocessing solutions, and Wujiahe Gene announced a strategic cooperation to jointly develop and optimize a gene therapy viral vector production platform that is efficient, cost-effective and compliant with GMP requirements. Reduce costs and increase efficiency for customers, and improve the standards of the genetic medicine industry; the cooperation is committed to empowering the local gene therapy track, accelerating the commercialization of gene therapy in China, benefiting more patients as soon as possible, and making genetic medicine "curable and affordable."
Mr. Dong Xiaoyan, co-founder and chairman of Wujiahe Gene, said: Wujiahe has been deeply involved in the field of viral vectors for many years and has a strong independent intellectual property core technology platform and team. It is one of the very few in China today that has the CDMO, CMC, and CMO enterprises that integrate systems from the design and construction of viral vector systems, gene therapy drug research and development, design and construction, to the production and preparation of clinical products of recombinant viral genetic drugs, clinical application of genetic drugs, etc. There is a huge audience for gene therapy drugs in China, and "no cure" and "cannot afford it" are the primary problems faced by patients. Our ultimate goal is to enable the Chinese people to have access to genetic medicines, which must not only provide good treatment, but also be affordable.
Investors in this round, Huaiji Investment and Aopeng Investment, said: New treatments such as gene therapy and viral therapy are developing very rapidly, and they are also tracks with very high growth potential in the future. We firmly believe that new treatments such as gene therapy and viral therapy can open up a new space and provide more and better treatments and solutions for diseases that humans have not been able to solve. Wujiahe Gene is the company with the richest development experience and the most comprehensive technical reserves in the process development (CDMO) of adeno-associated virus (AAV) in China. It can not only provide necessary support for gene therapy and viral therapy, but also provide strong support for cell therapy, antiviral drug development, vaccine research and development, etc. As the core link of gene therapy, virus therapy, etc., we are firmly optimistic about the future of Acanthopanax and genes. At the same time, we also hope that Wujiahe Gene can help domestic and global gene therapy and other companies develop more and better drugs, help humans overcome more diseases, and make greater contributions to the health of the entire human race.
Dr. Zou Guowen, founder of WinX Capital, said: We are honored to assist Wujia and Gene to complete this round of financing quickly and efficiently. Gene therapy has become an important research and development direction for global biotechnology companies. The research and development of gene therapy drugs using adeno-associated virus (AAV) as a carrier accounts for more than 70% of the world. However, in China, it has complete capabilities from AAV viral vector construction to industrialization. There are only a handful of companies. Mr. Dong is one of the few scientists in China who has focused on AAV research and development for nearly 30 years. At the same time, he has shaped the complete R&D technology platform system of Wujiahe Gene and served many customers. He has also been recognized by Sartorius, a world-renowned company. In the cooperation with Mr. Dong and the senior management team, we deeply felt the attitude of Wujia and Gene towards technological excellence and their scientific and pragmatic style. In the future, we believe that Wujiahe Gene will help more gene therapy drugs enter clinical practice and be approved for marketing. We look forward to working with all parties to accompany Wujiahe Gene to become a world-leading Chinese gene therapy CDMO brand enterprise. Attached