MaKe | MaHui Member METiS Pharmaceuticals Closes $100 Million Series C, Leading the "AI + Drug Delivery" Track

Recently, MaHui portfolio company METiS Pharmaceuticals announced the completion of a $100 million Series C funding round, led by CICC Capital and with participation from China Taiping's Taiping Hong Kong Insurance Sci-Tech Innovation Fund. METiS is an innovative biotechnology company focused on "AI + drug delivery." Including investments previously raised from multiple top-tier investors, the company has now raised nearly $300 million in total.

Source Code Capital has supported METiS since its angel round, continuing through multiple subsequent rounds.

Founded in 2020 by Hongming Chen, a member of the US National Academy of Engineering, alongside MIT top scientists Caida Lai and Wenshou Wang, METiS leverages artificial intelligence to drive precision-targeted drug delivery and drug discovery. The company is dedicated to developing innovative nanomaterials and more effective therapeutics for patients, and has become one of the world's leading drug delivery platforms.

Proceeds from this round will primarily fund continued advancement of the AI + drug delivery platform and expansion of its proprietary pipeline, helping METiS maintain its edge in continuous innovation within the drug delivery space.

AI + Drug Delivery

Accelerating CGT and Nucleic Acid Drug Development

According to the latest projections from Nova One Advisor, the CGT and mRNA therapy market is expected to surge to $156.2 billion by 2033 — a massive opportunity that has drawn the attention of numerous investors and companies. In the development of CGT and mRNA drugs, "drug delivery" technology is the bottleneck that ensures successful intracellular expression, encompassing critical challenges such as targeting specific tissues and organs, efficient intracellular delivery, and endosomal escape. To put it metaphorically, the delivery process is like a rocket precisely launching a satellite into a specific orbit so that it can operate normally.

As a leader in the "AI + drug delivery" field, METiS started from scratch in the absence of open-source datasets and delivery-related algorithms, pioneering innovative AI and computational simulation algorithms for ionizable lipid generation and design as well as LNP nanomaterial design and simulation. Combined with world-leading high-throughput experimental technology and animal validation platforms, the company has built its own data and algorithm moats. Currently, METiS has independently developed three core AI + technology platforms: the AI-driven nucleic acid delivery system design platform (AiLNP), the AI-driven mRNA sequence design platform (AiRNA), and the AI-driven small-molecule formulation design platform (AiTEM) — establishing a proprietary wet-and-dry lab integration workflow that enables efficient drug delivery and drug discovery.

Building on its AI drug delivery platform and leveraging rapidly advancing large language models and generative AI technology, METiS has established the world's first METiSLipidLM lipid language model and PhatGPT lipid generation model, creating a million-scale lipid library and successfully breaking through international patent barriers. At the same time, METiS combines innovative molecular simulation technology to model various microscopic processes of LNPs in vitro and in vivo, and relies on a world-class experimental validation platform to enable the development of multi-organ-targeted nanomaterials — achieving successful real-world application of AI + nanomaterials.

In the liver-targeting domain, METiS has achieved best-in-class global performance, with delivery efficiency exceeding industry giants by more than 20x. In lung targeting and other areas, the company has also achieved order-of-magnitude improvements in efficacy compared to top overseas pharmaceutical companies. Furthermore, METiS has pioneered targeted delivery technologies for whole-body muscle, brain, immune organs, and tumors, successfully leading the world in solving the bottleneck challenge of multi-organ and tissue targeting — bringing nucleic acid gene medicines closer to reality for oncology, metabolic diseases, autoimmune diseases, and neurodegenerative conditions.

First Pipeline Advances to Phase III Clinical Trials

Relying on its self-developed technology platforms, METiS has built multiple R&D pipelines covering small-molecule drugs and nucleic acid drugs led by mRNA, focusing on therapeutic areas with substantial clinical needs in China and globally, such as oncology, central nervous system diseases, and liver diseases. Its most advanced small-molecule pipeline initiated Phase III clinical trials in June 2023, while its mRNA immunotherapy pipeline is also expected to enter clinical trials this year. This marks the company's successful and rapid transformation and upgrade from a technology platform to a product platform, validating METiS's R&D capabilities powered by its AI-driven drug delivery platform.

This Series C financing will further accelerate METiS's R&D progress and enhance the company's competitiveness in AI-driven drug discovery. METiS will use the proceeds to continue strengthening team building and advancing more innovative drugs toward clinical application.

"Independent R&D + Co-development" Dual-Wheel Drive

Beyond independent research and development, METiS actively pursues external partnerships, driving growth through a "independent R&D + co-development" dual-wheel model. Currently, through co-development or technology platform licensing, METiS has established in-depth collaborations with top pharmaceutical companies both domestically and internationally, with the speed and success rate of its platform R&D gaining industry recognition. Through close collaboration, METiS is expected to achieve technological breakthroughs and commercial applications on a global scale, contributing greater momentum to the advancement of the pharmaceutical industry.

Caida Lai, Co-founder & CEO of METiS Pharmaceuticals, stated: "We are honored to receive the support from this funding round, which will provide powerful momentum for METiS's further development in AI-driven drug discovery. We recognize that the next 2-3 years will be a critical period for the industry, with global acceleration in nanodelivery material development and major pharmaceutical companies actively seeking long-term drug delivery partners. We remain firmly committed to advancing 'AI + drug delivery' technology, aspiring to become the SpaceX of the pharmaceutical industry — designing world-class nanorockets to solve the industry's most challenging technical problems. At the same time, we look forward to working with excellent pharmaceutical companies to build China's nucleic acid drug ecosystem and bring more innovative medicines to clinical practice."

Hongming Chen, Co-founder & CRDO of METiS Pharmaceuticals, stated: "We are deeply grateful for the strong support from our investors since the Series C round. Nucleic acid gene medicines hold enormous development potential, and there remain many unmet clinical needs awaiting the development of newer and more effective therapies. Over the past four years, we have built world-leading AI + drug delivery R&D capabilities. Going forward, we will advance more drugs into clinical trials and provide more innovative therapies for patients worldwide. We are very pleased to have the support of CICC Capital and China Taiping."