(VCBeat) May. 11, 2021 -- Beijing Daxiang Technology Co., Ltd. ("Daxiang Tech"), a leader in the field of organ-on-chips (OOC) in China, has raised tens of millions in a Series A financing round, led by CDH VGC, with participation from Miracle Plus and the existing investors including WuXi AppTec, Furong Capital and Jiuyou Capital.
Zhou Yu, CEO of Daxiang Tech, revealed that this round of financing will mainly be used to accelerate the construction of its existing OOC industrial chain as well as the research and development of new OOC and model, to provide high bionic and high-throughput tools for innovative drug discovery and development, and improve the efficiency of drug R&D. At the same time, Daxiang Tech will promote the application of OOC in the field of personalized precision medicine.
The so-called OOC technology is a perfect combination of microfluidic technology and tissue engineering, which can accurately control a variety of parameters, such as fluid shear force, molecular concentration gradient and multi-organ interaction, and can truly simulate the complex structure of human organs, tissue microenvironment and various physiological functions in vitro. At the World Economic Forum in Davos 2016, OOC was named one of the top 10 emerging technologies.
In August 2020, Daxiang Tech launched 3 types of OOC with completely independent intellectual property rights and built a variety of pathological and physiological models on this basis.
At present, relevant highly bionic models, such as the liver model, tumor model and blood-brain barrier model, have been verified by third-party authorities, and have been recognized by international pharmaceutical enterprises. As a result, Daxiang Tech has become the first OOC company in China to cooperate with top multinational pharmaceutical companies in drug R&D projects, realizing the business closed loop from technology platform, product R&D, industrial production to product application.
About CDH VGC
Established in 2002, CDH is one of the leading alternative investment fund managers focused on China today with over US$19 billion of assets under management, as of February 31, 2020. From its roots in private equity, CDH has expanded to become a diversified alternative asset management platform covering: Private Equity, Real Assets, Venture and Growth Capital, Mezzanine & Credit, Public Equities and Wealth Management. CDH VGC focuses on investments in healthcare, TMT and other emerging industries with Chinese characteristics.
About WuXi AppTec
WuXi AppTec provides a broad portfolio of R&D and manufacturing services that enable companies in the pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device industries worldwide to advance discoveries and deliver groundbreaking treatments to patients.
With industry-leading capabilities such as R&D and manufacturing for small molecule drugs, cell and gene therapies, and testing for medical devices, WuXi AppTec's open-access platform is enabling more than 3,900 collaborators from over 30 countries to improve the health of those in need.