Press Release 2021. 07. 28
Shenzhen, July 28, 2021- Innorna (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Innorna”) officially announced that it has raised hundreds of millions RMB in Series A funding in the first quarter of the year, leading in funding size among competitors in the same track and same series.
CPE Yuanfeng was the lead investor and Legend Capital was the co-investor. Current shareholders Zhifei Bio, Dynamic Balance Capital, Zhongke Chuangxing, and Qianhai Fund of Funds continued additional investment. Proceeds from the funding will be used for the construction of the R&D center and pilot plant, as well as R&D of infectious disease vaccines, rare diseases and others in the pipeline.
Cao Xia, Executive General Manager of CPE Yuanfeng, a new shareholder in this series, said, “mRNA technology, one of the top ten breakthrough technologies in the world in 2021, has come out to the stage of history with the covid-19. It starts with vaccination but goes way beyond that. It is the model of the third revolution of medicine, and also shows huge potential in other areas such as tumor immunity, protein therapy, etc. Few teams in the world mastered LNP delivery technology and applied it to mRNA medicine. Dr. Li Linxian, the founder of Innorna, is a leading scientist in the field worldwide who masters the underlying technology of core lipid design, the core technology of key steps such as mRNA synthesis, preparation, etc. He remains modest, so he can be great. It is our honor to cooperate with such an excellent and professional team and become an important shareholder, helping the development of the Chinese mRNA technology platform company representing Made-in-China direction.”
Hong Tan, Managing Director of Legend Capital, said, “In the past five years, nucleic acid drugs under the ‘Central Dogma’ framework have experienced great development. The mechanism of action of these drugs is clear, but how to deliver them efficiently and safely is the biggest difficulty. Dr. Li Linxian, the founder of Innorna, has over 10 years of research and development experience in the field of Nucleic Drug Delivery System (NDDS). He has a systematic and comprehensive accumulation in nucleic acid biology, mRNA modification, phospholipid synthesis, formulation, etc. Dr. Li now has transformed from a scientist to a scientific entrepreneur, leading the team to accumulate knowledge and technology patiently and implement strategies efficiently, as well as integrate resources from many parties to quickly advance the project. We are optimistic about Innorna's deep comprehension of mRNA and delivery systems and the team’s rapid iteration and execution.”
Established in November 2019, Innorna focuses on the research and development of mRNA and delivery vectors technologies. It has industry-leading mRNA and nano-delivery technology platform with independent intellectual property rights.
CPE is an asset management institution with extensive China experience and, at the same time, an international perspective. With a long-term vision and value investment strategy, CPE provides innovative investment solutions to leading companies from the following four key sectors-healthcare, consumer and internet, technology and industry, software, and enterprise services. Currently, CPE’s funds under management are supported by over 200 domestic and overseas institutional investors. The core investment team has completed more than 200 investments globally with a total AUM exceeding RMB100 billion, enabling the firm to accumulate key sector knowledge and a widespread business network. With a solid investment and research process and professional portfolio management capabilities, CPE Yuanfeng is committed to building long-term cooperation with investee companies to help them achieve value creation and sustainable development, which will promote overall industry growth and positive impact on the society.
In April 2001, Legend Capital was established as a fund manager under Legend Holdings, focusing on the early-stage VC and growth–stage PE investment. Since its establishment, Legend Capital has been adhering to internationally accepted standards and has developed best practices in fund management and operation. With a proven track record of more than 20 years, it now has full experience in fund management and operation and has built an extensive partner ecosystem across the entire investment chain.
Legend Capital goes the extra mile in delivering proactive value-added services to help portfolio companies drive innovations. They are committed to promoting China’s industrial progress and social development, while securing high returns across various fields. With the vision of “becoming an investment company with international influence”, Legend Capital lives and breathes its core value of Pursing Fortune with Integrity to fulfill corporate social responsibilities. In 2019, Legend Capital signed the UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), intended to take responsible investing as a long-term strategy to practice sustainable development and green finance philosophy.
