AccurEdit Therapeutics (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. ("AccurEdit ") announced today that it had raised tens of millions of dollars in seed funding. The funding round was led by Legend Capital, a world-renowned medical investment institution, with participation from Cormorant. The raised fund will be used to support the construction of the R&D platform and the fast promotion of the company's pipelines.

AccurEdit, established in July 2021, focuses on intracellular (endonuclear) targets development by using a new generation of safe and efficient gene editing and RNA editing and delivery technologies with excellent targeting ability, industry-leading algorithms-based off-target effect analysis methods as well as industry-proven experience and abilities in CMC process development, GMP production, and commercialization. It is committed to providing patients worldwide with innovative drugs and therapeutic schemes that can treat serious or even life-threatening congenital and hereditary diseases and acquired diseases.

Dr. Wang Yongzhong, the Founder, Chairman and CEO of AccurEdit, has more than 20 years of successful experience in the research, development, application, marketing, commercialization and internationalization of innovative biological drugs in China and abroad. Besides, he has rich experience in successfully managing and operating multiple pharmaceutical companies as sponsors or suppliers. He served successively as the CEO of CMAB Biopharma (Suzhou) Inc., president of pharmaceuticals business of Simcere Pharmaceutical Group Ltd., CEO of Kanghong Biotechnology Co., Ltd., and a research scientist at Genzyme Corporation (US). Dr. Tao Jialin, Co-founder and Head of CMC of AccurEdit, has 16 years of experience in the global biopharmaceutical research and manufacturing industry. He served successively at several well-known enterprises in China and abroad, e.g., Roche (Japan), CMC Biologics (US), Simcere, and CMAB Biopharma (Suzhou) Inc.. Other core team members have extensive industry experience in drug design, pre-clinical research and development, and GMP production. The company has set up an advisory committee composed of top scientists and entrepreneurs in the industry to provide all-around guidance for the company's project establishment and development. Furthermore, the US branch of AccurEdit has been established and will work with partners in the US to develop more advanced gene and RNA editing technologies.

Dr. Wang Yongzhong, Founder, Chairman and CEO of AccurEdit said, "I really appreciate the trust and support of Legend and Cormorant. In recent years, China has firmly established a new development concept across the country and the pharmaceutical industry, i.e. focusing on the research and development of innovative drugs. In the past, biological drug targets were mainly proteins on cell membranes and proteins secreted from cells, i.e., mostly on the protein level. Drugs were developed but can only affect the course of the disease instead of fundamentally curing the disease. Tremendous progress has been achieved in nucleic acid technology and gene and RNA editing technologies in recent years. A broader space was exposed for the development of intracellular (endonuclear) targets. For these intracellular targets, it is more prone to solve problems before protein production, and based on its mechanism, it may fundamentally cure the diseases by controlling the progression of the disease. The drugs based on gene and RNA editing are still very new in the industry. But, after careful analysis, the technology and process routes of such drugs mainly include several processes, such as plasmid development based on recombinant DNA technology, cell culture, cell purification, gene editing and delivery etc. Based on experience in the successful development and commercialization of multiple products, the AccurEdit team has proven capabilities in some of these process sectors. The team has already been strengthened by excellent researchers and partners in other sectors. The entire team is very confident of making achievements in the field with great potential."

Mr. Hong Tan, the managing partner of Legend Capital, said, "Therapeutic drugs based on nucleic acid technology and gene editing technology are disruptive innovations in biomedical technology. The development prospects have been widely recognized and verified in China and abroad. Legend Capital and Dr. Wang have a common understanding of the choice of the future field. Both agree that the future research and development of biological drugs need to focus on solving problems before protein production. The AccurEdit team led by Dr. Wang Yongzhong has proven abilities in successful R&D, industrialization and commercialization of innovative biological drugs, and outstanding enterprise operation capabilities. We are very confident that AccurEdit's products will soon become important elements in the 'Era of Cure' of gene therapy through the joint efforts of Legend Capital and Dr. Wang."

Dr. Chen Bihua, the Founder of Cormorant, said, "I have known Dr. Wang Yongzhong for many years. When Dr. Wang took over Suqiao Medicine (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. with participation from us more than two years ago, our cooperation officially began. At that time, Dr. Wang turned things around quickly and led CMAB Biopharma (Suzhou) Inc. to become the biopharmaceutical CDMO company with the fastest growth in China for two consecutive years. CMAB had almost ten IND applications submitted and approved in China and the US in the two years. We have always been optimistic about gene editing and have an extensive investment in the world. We believe that this field has entered the stage where 'Technology commercialization' is both the major bottleneck and the key driver. We are very happy to cooperate with Dr. Wang again and hope that the AccurEdit team could take the company's products to clinical trial phases as soon as possible and bring good news to both foreign and domestic patients with its strong transition capabilities."