The Chinese leading cell therapy company IASO Bio will soon launch its first commercialized CAR-T product
IASO Bio (Chinese: 驯鹿生物), a clinical-stage biopharma company focusing on innovative cell medicine, announced that it had raised nearly CNY 500 million in Series C1. The investment was participated from 11 investors including GuoXin investment (Chinese: 国鑫投资), Efung Capital (Chinese: 倚锋资本), Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone Group (Chinese: 上海外高桥集团), Nanjing Jiangbei New Area State-owned Assets Management (Chinese: 南京江北国资), HosenCare Brothers (Chinese: 厚新健投), and HongCheng Investment (Chinese: 宏诚投资).
Proceeds raised in this financing round will be mainly used in the development and clinical promotion of product pipelines, and the commercialization of its core product Equecabtagene Autoleucel.
IASO Bio is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of novel cell therapies for oncology and autoimmune diseases. Leveraging its proprietary fully-human antibody discovery platform (IMARS), high-throughput CAR T drug screening platform, and proprietary manufacturing processes. IASO Bio has a diversified portfolio of over 10 novel pipeline products including autologous and allogeneic CAR-T and biologics product candidates. Equecabtagene Autoleucel (CT103A), an autologous BCMA-targeting CAR-T product for the treatment of R/R MM, is IASO's leading asset. It now has received New Drug Application (NDA) acceptance from China's National Medical Products Administration (NMPA). It also received Breakthrough Therapy Designation by the NMPA in February 2021 and Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) by the FDA in February 2022.
IASO Bio firmly develops its international strategy. It has announced research collaboration or license agreement with global biopharma companies including Umoja Biopharma, Hematological Malignancies, and Cabaletta Bio to explore the next-generation cell therapy product.
IASO Bio's competitors include Juventas Therapeutics (Chinese: 合源生物), CARsgen Therapeutics (Chinese: 科济药业), and Gracell Biotechnologies (Chinese: 亘喜生物).