Code Engraved | METiS Pharmaceuticals Announces Two Consecutive Rounds totaling $150 Million

#MaHui Key Updates from Source Code Capital and MaHui Members

On April 6, METiS Pharmaceuticals, a company focused on AI-driven drug and drug delivery system development, officially announced the completion of two consecutive funding rounds totaling $150 million. The rounds were led by PICC Capital and China Life Private Equity Investment Company Limited, with participation from both new and existing investors including HSG, 5Y Capital, CMB International, Lightspeed China Partners, Monolith, and FreeS Fund. China Renaissance served as the exclusive financial advisor. Source Code Capital has supported the company continuously since its angel round.

Originally incubated by XtalPi, METiS is dedicated to advancing its AI drug and drug delivery system platform. Through independent R&D and active partnerships, the company is working with collaborators to advance multiple high-value drug pipelines in both small molecule and nucleic acid therapeutics into clinical stages.

Under the leadership of Hongming Chen of the United States National Academy of Engineering, Caida Lai, Wenshou Wang, and several top scientists from MIT, METiS has pioneered the application of artificial intelligence in drug delivery. The company combines its self-developed "high-throughput experimental platform" for drug delivery with data-driven "AI algorithms" and mechanism-driven "quantum chemistry and molecular dynamics simulations" to predict the physicochemical and biological properties of small molecule and nucleic acid drugs in specific microenvironments. Through AI-driven dry-lab and wet-lab iteration, METiS achieves more effective lead optimization, nucleic acid sequence design and optimization, and develops superior formulation or nucleic acid delivery systems. To date, METiS has filed multiple patent applications with significant commercial potential and established pipelines across small molecule and nucleic acid programs, with its most advanced assets expected to enter pivotal clinical trials in 2023.

Notably, METiS has built proprietary end-to-end nucleic acid drug development capabilities integrating mRNA sequence design and LNP delivery system design. Its LNP nucleic acid delivery system achieves expression efficiency more than ten times higher than industry standards, while enabling targeted delivery to multiple organs and tissues including the liver, lung, spleen, and muscle — supporting localized regeneration, systemic/targeted protein secretion, antibody production, enzyme replacement, tumor targeting, and immune enhancement therapies. This has secured the company several co-development partnership opportunities with major domestic and international pharmaceutical companies.

Caida Lai, CEO of METiS Pharmaceuticals, commented: "We are deeply grateful to our new and existing shareholders for their unwavering support in business operations, technology, and partnerships, which has enabled us to rapidly build our 'AI drug and drug delivery system development platform' and establish multiple small molecule and nucleic acid pipelines. We are also honored to have established collaborative relationships with leading pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions worldwide, working together to apply cutting-edge technologies to small molecule and nucleic acid drug development and to advance more promising therapeutics into the clinic for the benefit of patients."

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