China’s Innoforce Bags $157 Million to Boost Cell, Gene and RNA CDMO Services
Innoforce, a Chinese biopharma and CDMO has closed a $157 million Series A funding round after adding $59 million to the $98 million it raised this March. It intends to use the proceeds to establish biomanufacturing capacities for cell and gene therapies, as well as develop an RNA production platform.
The round was co-led by Yanchuang Capital and South China Venture Capital, with additional investment from existing investor Quan Capital Management. New investors joining the most recent tranche included Advantech Capital, Triwise Capital, CICC Capital, Highrun Capital, Euland Venture, and S&G CAPITAL.
Founded in 2018, Innoforce is based in Hangzhou Bay Biotech Valley. Its primary campus is expected to include biologics development labs, a scale-up lab, a pilot plant, multiple 2000L commercial production lines, and cell and gene therapy manufacturing suites.
“We are extremely proud of the near completion of the first phase of construction of the Innoforce campus in Hangzhou and our progress towards planned, staged GMP operations in the coming year. Our fundraising activities have enabled establishing our joint venture with biologics manufacturing, opening our process development laboratories, and building our team,” said Dr. Yuling Li, CEO of Innoforce.
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Partnerships with Thermo Fisher and dMed
With the Hangzhuo campus expected to be GMP-ready in 2022, Innoforce has formed partnerships with two companies. Last month, the company and Thermo Fisher announced a joint venture to set up a biologics production facility with sterile fill-finish on the campus. Thermo Fisher will also help supply the drugs produced by Innoforce to clients around the world.
Earlier in March, Innoforce partnered with China-US clinical CRO dMed to develop and manufacture biological drugs, primarily for the Chinese market.
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