5Y News | Zai Ling Bio Completes Nearly RMB 400 Million Series B+ Round
Accelerating the buildout of an innovative drug pipeline built on differentiated molecular scaffolds and novel targets, with a commitment to addressing unmet clinical needs.
Recently, Chengdu Zelgen Biopharmaceuticals (hereinafter referred to as "Zelgen") announced the completion of a nearly RMB 400 million funding round. This round was led by Qiming Venture Partners, with Gaorong Capital, Jifeng Capital, Qiji Investment, 5Y Capital, and Zhongyuan Investment participating, while Sichuan Biomedical Industry Group continued its investment.
The proceeds will be primarily directed toward advancing multiple globally competitive innovative drugs into pivotal Phase III clinical trials, while supporting the ongoing expansion of Zelgen's R&D pipeline. Concurrently, Zelgen will strengthen its three core technology platforms — the "Structural Biology Platform," "AI-Driven Drug Design Platform," and "Organoid-PDX Dual-Track Validation Platform." Leveraging these platforms, Zelgen is accelerating the development of differentiated molecular scaffolds and novel target-based innovative drug pipelines, committed to addressing unmet clinical needs.
Zelgen's clinical pipeline candidates ZL-82, PM, FM, and ZL-85FA (left to right) on display
Founded in 2019, Zelgen is an innovative drug R&D company driven by structural biology and artificial intelligence. The company focuses on major unmet medical needs, concentrating on oncology, autoimmune diseases, inflammatory conditions, and neurological disorders, with the mission of discovering, developing, and commercializing First-in-Class (FIC) and Best-in-Class (BIC) innovative drugs. Zelgen has established a comprehensive innovation platform covering the full lifecycle of novel drug development, with end-to-end capabilities spanning AI molecular design, structural biology, organoid-based high-throughput screening, PDX model construction, CMC research, clinical strategy development and execution, and new drug registration — continuously empowering the efficient translation from source innovation to clinical value.
To date, Zelgen has independently developed seven differentiated, globally competitive wholly-owned products, building a pipeline across multiple major disease areas. One indication has entered pivotal Phase III trials, while five indications are in Phase II. The company's core product, Purinostat Mesylate (PM), is the world's first highly selective HDAC inhibitor to undergo clinical trials as a monotherapy for relapsed/refractory lymphoma. Currently, PM monotherapy has completed Phase I trials for hematological malignancies and Phase IIa/IIb multicenter clinical trials across China for relapsed/refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (r/r DLBCL), with concurrent Phase I/II trials underway for T-cell lymphoma, solid tumors, and breast cancer. In the Phase IIa r/r DLBCL study, the objective response rate (ORR) reached 69.0%, non-inferior or superior to bispecific antibody and ADC combination therapies (ORR approximately 50%-65%). The product has now successfully advanced to pivotal Phase III clinical trials.
Another flagship product, Flonoltinib Maleate (FM), is a highly selective JAK2/FLT3/CDK6 triple-target inhibitor with FIC potential that has demonstrated significant and breakthrough efficacy in the clinical development of myelofibrosis (MF). In the primary endpoint (IRC-assessed 24-week spleen volume response rate), over 80% of patients in the FM treatment group achieved ≥35% spleen volume reduction (SVR35). Moreover, in some FM-treated patients, significant reductions in bone marrow fibrosis severity (assessed through serial bone marrow biopsy pathology) were observed, with some cases showing signs of histological reversal. Flonoltinib Maleate is poised to become an important therapeutic option for patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms, driving the evolution of treatment paradigms in this disease area. Its unique, globally first-in-class mechanism of action and currently observed clinical benefits position it as a potentially superior therapy in myelofibrosis — an indication with substantial unmet medical need — and it is about to enter pivotal Phase III clinical trials.
To date, Zelgen has accumulated 34 invention patents, including 17 international patents; an additional 45 international and domestic patent applications are pending. The company has obtained a total of 19 clinical approvals from China's NMPA and the US FDA.
By deeply integrating its three core technology platforms — "structural biology analysis," "AI drug design," and "organoid-PDX dual-track validation" — Zelgen has successfully constructed a unique "end-to-end" innovative engine for novel drug discovery, seamlessly spanning the full R&D chain from target validation, molecular design, and molecular optimization to in vivo validation. This continuously drives the accelerated clinical development of original innovative drugs with novel target mechanisms and differentiated molecular structures, addressing major unmet medical needs worldwide.
Structural Biology and AI Drug Design Deeply Integrated Small-Molecule Drug Discovery Platform
Zelgen's trinity innovation engine of structural biology / AI drug design / organoid-PDX dual-track validation continuously empowers global novel drug R&D. Leveraging its profound structural biology analysis capabilities, the Zelgen team has, for the first time globally, revealed three novel drug-binding sites on tubulin and their unique mechanisms of action — a milestone original discovery that establishes an entirely new structural foundation and design paradigm for developing next-generation ADC drug payloads based on tubulin. To address bottlenecks in molecular design and optimization for small-molecule innovative drug R&D, the company has independently built multiple original AI drug design algorithm modules: the Local Structure-Directed Compound generation algorithm (LSDC) — significantly enhancing molecular scaffold diversity and efficiently exploring novel chemical space; the multi-dimensional coarse-grained data fusion Molecular generation algorithm (CMD-GEN) — improving molecular generation efficiency and precision while optimizing design pathways; and the physics formula-Guided brain Kp,uu prediction algorithm (CMD-FGKp,uu) — enabling high-precision prediction of drug brain delivery potential (Kp,uu) to accelerate CNS drug development. This matrix of innovative algorithms substantially enhances the innovativeness of molecular design, the accuracy of druggability prediction, and overall R&D efficiency.
High-Throughput Organoid Screening Platform and PDX Pharmacodynamics Evaluation Platform
In building its preclinical research system, Zelgen leverages the rich industry-university-research integration resources of West China Hospital, Sichuan University, to establish an organoid drug screening platform covering major and refractory tumors including liver cancer, gastric cancer, colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer, breast cancer, and glioblastoma. This platform highly simulates patients' authentic tumor microenvironments, significantly shortening early-stage drug screening cycles and improving the reliability of preclinical predictions and clinical translation success rates.
Meanwhile, drawing on long-term technical accumulation, the company has systematically established PDX model platforms encompassing multiple genetic mutations and drug resistance models for hematological tumors including B-cell lymphoma, T-cell lymphoma, and leukemia, alongside PDX models for various solid tumors including breast cancer, gastric cancer, and pancreatic cancer. For customized R&D needs targeting specific targets and mechanisms, the company can also precisely develop primary mouse models through retrovirus-mediated and bone marrow transplantation technologies, providing full-chain support for innovative drugs from molecular design to in vivo validation.
This funding round, with participation from multiple professional investment institutions, fully reflects the market's high recognition of Zelgen's R&D achievements and future potential. Zelgen will continue to adhere to its innovation-driven strategy, accelerate its globalization pace, further unleash its platform advantages in cutting-edge areas such as structural biology and AI drug design, continuously enhance product adaptability and competitiveness in international markets, and work with global partners to create a new pattern of multi-party win-win outcomes.
Professor Chen Lijuan, Founder of Zelgen, stated: "In an environment where global pharmaceutical industry capital markets have cooled and biopharma industry financing has slowed, Zelgen's ability to rapidly complete its B+ round fully demonstrates investors' high recognition of our development strategy and R&D achievements. With two core products entering pivotal Phase III clinical trials, the company is firmly advancing toward international development. 2025 will be the inaugural year of Zelgen's globalization. We will accelerate our overseas market layout and march toward the center stage of global innovative drugs."
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