EdiGene Raises Approximately USD 67 Million in Series B Financing to Advance Gene Editing Based Programs into Clinical Stage

BEIJING & CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- EdiGene, Inc., which develops genome editing technologies to accelerate drug discovery and develop novel therapeutics for a broad range of diseases, today announced the successful completion of a RMB 450 million (approximately USD 67 million) Series B financing. 3H Health Investment led the round and other new investors included Sequoia Capital China, Alwin Capital and Kunlun Capital, along with continued support by previous investors, including IDG Capital, Lilly Asia Venture, Huagai Capital and Green Pine Capital Partners. Proceeds from the financing will be used to advance the company’s pipeline into clinics and to expand the team.

Minchuan Wang, Ph.D., Partner of 3H Health Investment commented: “As one of the most disruptive biomedical technologies, gene editing is rapidly moving toward clinics globally. EdiGene is leading the wave in China, as they have established outstanding research and development capabilities, and more importantly, they have developed an impressive portfolio of proprietary gene editing tools and product candidates. We are pleased to lead the Series B financing, and are excited to join force with EdiGene and other investors to bring life-changing innovative gene-editing therapies to patients in China and globally. We look forward to contributing our clinical, business, and policy resources to further strengthen the company’s capabilities, and are confident that EdiGene is well-positioned to be a leader in gene-editing therapeutics.”

“We have raised approximately RMB 700 million (USD 100 million) in the past two years. We are delighted to add these top tier investors in closing of our Series B financing, and are grateful for the continuous support from the current investors,” said Dong Wei, Ph.D.，CEO of EdiGene, “The round enables us to further scale up and transform our pipeline into clinical-stage, which is also a big step forward in building a globally competitive gene editing company. More importantly, we are closer to realizing our mission of bringing innovative and high-quality gene-editing therapies to patients in need.”

“We are very pleased to have the support and partnership from our investors, which propels the company to an exciting new stage,” said Wensheng Wei, Scientific Founder of EdiGene, “Together with the investors, we look forward to translating cutting-edge gene editing technologies into innovative therapies, bringing hope and health to patients and their families.”

Founded in 2015, EdiGene has established four gene editing based platforms and is advancing its early stage programs into clinical development for patients with genetic diseases and cancer. The four platforms are ex vivo genome-editing platforms for hematopoietic stem cells and T cells, in vivo therapeutic platform based on RNA base editing, and high-throughput genome-editing screening to discover novel targeted therapies. In addition, EdiGene has launched GMP manufacturing facility in 2018 in Guangdong Province.

About EdiGene, Inc

EdiGene is a biotechnology company focused on leveraging the cutting-edge genome editing technologies to accelerate drug discovery and develop novel therapeutics for a broad range of genetic diseases and cancer. The company has established its proprietary ex vivo genome-editing platforms for hematopoietic stem cells and T cells, in vivo therapeutic platform based on RNA base editing, and high-throughput genome-editing screening to discover novel targeted therapies. Founded in 2015, EdiGene is headquartered in Beijing, with subsidiaries in Guangzhou, China and Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. More information can be found at www.edigene.com.

About 3H Health Investment

3H Health Investment is a dedicated healthcare venture firm. We focus on unmet medical needs and invest in emerging fields of science and medicine to deliver breakthroughs to patients. Leveraging our extensive resources with clinical institutions, industry partners and policy institutes, we build leading innovative healthcare companies together with our partners. Please visit www.3hhinvestment.com to learn more about us.

About Sequoia Capital China

The Sequoia Capital team helps daring founders build legendary companies. In partnering with Sequoia Capital, companies benefit from our unmatched community and the lessons we’ve learned over 48 years. As “The Entrepreneurs behind the Entrepreneurs”, Sequoia Capital China focuses on four sectors: TMT, healthcare, consumer/service, and industrial technology. Over the past 15 years we’ve had the privilege of working with approximately 600 companies in China.

About Alwin Capital

Alwin Capital is a leading venture capital in China specializing in early stage life science investments. Driven by theme-focused research in life science, Alwin Capital has developed investment strategies that capture outstanding opportunities for innovative diagnostic and therapeutic developments. We are committed to the long-term investment in life science with the pursuit of the excess investment return based on the scientific insights. Founded in 2015, our management team has decades of experience in healthcare research and medical markets. We have invested in dozens of companies in life science and cultivated a bunch of leading companies in respective segments.

About Kunlun Capital

Kunlun Capital is a venture firm specializes on technological innovative companies’ investment. Founded in 2015 by Mr. Yahui Zhou, founder of Shenzhen-listed Kunlun Wanwei and NASDAQ-listed Opera, we now manage an investment fund of more than RMB 10 billion.

Our core is consumer value and we focus on technology, product or data-driven innovative business model. We identify the leading companies of different segments and look for founding teams with global potential and local capabilities. Our investment cases include Bellen, Obio Technology, Keya Medical, musical.ly, Dada Group, KK World, pony ai, Dreame, Leyan Technologies, etc.

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