SAN DIEGO, Calif. and CHENGDU, China, Feb. 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Ucello Therapeutics ("Ucello"), a biotechnology company developing universal CAR-T therapies, announced the successful completion of a US$25 million Series A financing.
The funding round was led by Matrix Partners China, along with other investors Co-Win Ventures, Northern Light Venture Capital, and Elikon Venture. Also joining the round was existing angle investor Chengdu Bio-town Fund.
Proceeds from the financing will be used to advance the company's development of proprietary universal CAR-T technology platform CBT-X20, progress pipeline programs including lead asset AT19 through to US and China IND filings, and build a state of the art GMP-ready clinical manufacturing facilities.
"We are delighted to have achieved this significant milestone, which allows us to welcome several top caliber investors such as Matrix Partners China, Co-Win Ventures, Northern Light Venture Capital, Elikon Venture, and Chengdu Bio-town Fund," said Dr. Qiang Zou, Chairman and CEO of Ucello. "With this funding, we will further accelerate our goal of developing breakthrough universal CAR-T therapies and move our pipeline towards clinical development where we hope to help patients worldwide as soon as possible."
"Cell therapy is a fast-moving field and the next generation of therapies could be off-the-shelf in nature," said Matrix Partners China partner Dr. Eric Yu. "Allogeneic cell therapy, like the universal CAR-T that Ucello is developing, could potentially address huge unmet medical needs by making cell therapy a lot more accessible and readily available. Ucello's universal CAR-T cell therapy platform has demonstrated great potential through excellent early clinical results in investigator-initiated trials with global leading safety and efficacy profiles. We believe the company is well-positioned to bring benefits to patients in China and globally as early as possible."
"Ucello's products at this stage have demonstrated unparalleled advantages for patients who have previously received bone marrow transplants, as well as for those whose conditions continue to progress after autologous CAR-T treatment. It is not only cost-controlled, but also truly meets the clinical need for timeliness," said Dr. Xin Huang, Managing Partner of the Co-Win Ventures. "This obvious advantage in performance is mainly thanks to the team's commitment to benefits for patients alongside years of research and deep knowledge in the field of cord blood-derived CAR-T cell technology. We are pleased to have the opportunity to help Ucello build on its success and accelerate the clinical application of its products to bring sustainable clinical benefits to more patients."
"Universal CAR-T is a very competitive field for players in the cell therapy sector, in which few breakthroughs having been made so far due to many technical hurdles," stated Mr. Feng Deng, Founding and Managing Partner of the Northern Light Venture Capital. "With a deep understanding of the immunotherapy and years of continuous efforts, the Ucello team has developed a unique platform technology which started to produce excellent clinical outcome with great potential to develop future blockbusters. We are very pleased to continually support the development of Ucello."
Dr. Jianfeng Zhou, Director of the Department of Hematology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, said
"Universal CAR-T cell therapy is the current focus and hotspot of clinical research in the field of hematological oncology worldwide. We expect Ucello to achieve breakthroughs in this highly challenging field in both China and globally."
About Ucello Therapeutics
Ucello Therapeutics, established in December 2020 in Chengdu Tianfu International Bio-town, is a privately held biotechnology company focused on the development of allogeneic cell therapies. Powered by its proprietary universal CAR-T cell technology platform CBT-X20, Ucello has developed several "off-the-shelf" cell therapy pipelines for the treatment of solid tumors and hematologic malignancies, and potentially change the landscape of CAR-T cell therapy.
About Matrix Partners China
Founded in 2008, Matrix Partners China is one of the leading venture capital firms focused on early stage and early growth deals in China.
Matrix Partners China mainly invests in new economy, deep technology, industrial digitalization, healthcare, frontier technology and new retail/consumer brands. The firm has invested in more than 700 companies, including XPeng, Li-Auto, Futu Securities, Guazi, Eleme, Youzan, Ronbaymat, Xgimi, Momo, PingCap, Peijia Medical, Career International, Chemclin, Beisen, Lexin, ZiHaiGuo, ITcast, METAX, Simplelove, SemiDrive, MegaRobo, Akrostar Technology, X-EPIC, Bota Bio, Advaccine, among others.
About Co-Win Ventures
Founded in 2009, Co-Win Ventures focuses on early-stage original innovation-based enterprise investment in the sector of healthcare and technology with dual-currency RMB and US dollar. With total capital under management of over RMB 6 billion, Co-Win Ventures has provided capital and resource support to more than 130 outstanding startups. The company has built an extensive global network around innovative precision therapeutics. Bolstering its investments by serving as an external partner to start-up teams for over 10 years, Co-Win Ventures accompany them to grow to mature stages by creating significant value-add, while jointly facilitating industrial progress and social development.
About Northern Light Venture Capital
Northern Light Venture Capital (NLVC) is a leading China-focused venture capital firm targeting early stage opportunities in innovation and disruptive technology. Since its founding in 2005, Northern Light has backed 6nearly 400 ventures in the enterprise, healthcare and consumer sectors. Leveraging significant investing and entrepreneurial expertise in both China and the United States, the NLVC team looks to support entrepreneurs with groundbreaking ideas and exceptional vision to develop lasting ventures that positively impact society. For more information: www.NLVC.com.
About Elikon Venture
Founded in 2021, Elikon Venture focuses on early-stage investment in bio-tech and other opportunities in the healthcare industry. With the mission of addressing real unmet clinical demands, Elikon Venture seeks to partner with exceptional start-ups and solid entrepreneurs who possess independent intellectual properties and world-leading innovations, to develop breakthrough products that provide robust clinical benefits to patients, and help them live longer, healthier, and better.
Media contact: Yujie Guo, guoyujie@ucellotx.com
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