Yuanqi Biopharma Closes Angel Round of Financing

(VCBeat) Mar. 26, 2021 -- Recently, Yuanqi (Suzhou) Biopharmaceutical Co., Ltd. ("Yuanqi Biopharma") announced the close of an angel investment round from Kaitai Capital, BOHE Angel Fund, and Anlongmed Fund. 

Based on a deep understanding of biology and a variety of research strategies, Yuanqi Biopharma conducts exploratory research on challenging targets, including GPCR targets, in combination with emerging technologies such as target structure research technology and artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

The market potential of difficult drug targets is huge, with emerging R&D means for druggability. Yuanqi Biopharma is creative and eager to make breakthroughs.

In terms of the number of potential biological targets discovered at present, only 15% of them have been utilized and 85% of them are considered non-druggable targets. These targets are mainly related to transcription factors, phosphatases, protein interactions, and signal transduction. Current technologies for the development of non-druggable drug targets include ultra-high throughput screening, fragment-based drug screening, and targeted protein degradation. A number of new drug R&D companies at home and abroad have good market value in Nasdaq.

Dr. Ding Yuanhua and Dr. Javier Cote-Sierra play an important role in Yuanqi Biopharma’s team. They have been deeply involved in drug development for more than 20 years, and have once held leadership in well-known pharmaceutical companies. They worked side by side at Pfizer, where they shared the passion for developing new drugs for the patients together. 

Dr. Ding previously served as Pfizer's vice president of external R&D partnerships, where he was responsible for the R&D of emerging science, promising products and innovative technologies in the Asia-Pacific region. He has identified, promoted and partnered with a number of innovative biotech companies.

Dr. Cote-Sierra is an immunologist who has extensive experience in drug discovery and early clinical development in Millennium Pharmaceuticals (now part of the Takeda Group), Roche Pharmaceuticals, and GlaxoSmithKline. Previously, Dr. Cote-Sierra was Sanofi's Head of External Innovation in Inflammation and Immunology, where he led teams that contributed to multiple collaborations and acquisitions.

Kaitai Capital, founded in 2009, is a professional investment management organization that mainly engaged in innovative investment, industrial investment, and wealth management business. Fields of investment include biopharma, healthcare services, agriculture tech, consumer business, digital technology and etc. Currently, the asset under management of Kaitai Capital has reached 50 billion RMB (USD$7.2B).

Founded in 2015, BOHE Angel Fund is a venture capital firm with an AUM of RMB 200 million. The company focuses on investing in technology-based enterprises engaged in medical and healthcare in the early stage.