Oricell Therapeutics has now raised over $100 million in its final funding round before the Chinese CAR-T therapy biotech seeks to go public.
The Shanghai-based company secured backing from the likes of E-Town Capital, Luxin Venture Capital and NGS Super, and the “pre-IPO financing round” was co-led by Vivo Capital, Beijing Medical and Health Care Industry Investment Fund, Qiming Venture Partners and a “leading global healthcare fund,” according to an April 9 release.
The biotech said the proceeds would be “strategically allocated to accelerate Oricell’s global expansion and clinical development, while strengthening its technological capabilities and paving the way to capital market milestones.”
The company’s pipeline is headed up by Ori-C101, a GPC3-targeted autologous CAR-T therapy that has already completed a phase 1 study testing three dose levels among 10 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Patients who received the highest dose level achieved an objective response.
Oricell claimed this study showed that the therapy has a “best-in-class efficacy and safety profile.” The biotech is now gearing up for further studies with the ultimate aim of making Ori-C101 the first globally-approved CAR-T for HCC.
Beyond Ori-C101, the company said it is “aggressively advancing a diverse portfolio of next-generation modalities.” They include in vivo CAR-T programs—a red-hot area of cell therapy development.
“As we approach key inflection points in our clinical programs, our priority is clear: expedite the global development of our core assets and deepening our research into revolutionary technologies, including in vivo CAR-T and solid tumor CAR-T,” Oricell CEO Huanfeng Yang, Ph.D., said in the release.
Oricell was established in 2015 with 100 million Chinese yuan (about $14 million) in initial funding. Since then, the biotech has been a regular fundraiser, including a $125 million series B in 2022, a $45 million B1 round in 2023 and the announcement of a $70 million series C1 financing four months ago.
