A few days ago, Shanghai Meirui Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Magrui Chemical") completed a $26 million Series A financing, which was co-led by Qiming Venture Capital and LYFE Capital, followed by Sinovation Works and Maga Technology. The financing funds will be used to further improve product research and development, develop commercial markets, and support international layout.
Founded in January 2022, Magrui Chemical was incubated by Maga and completed an angel round of investment. Founded by a team with an international interdisciplinary background, the company is committed to using an automated and intelligent platform to provide a new generation of chemical synthesis CRO services for new drug R&D customers, greatly shortening the delivery cycle of chemical synthesis in the new drug R&D cycle, significantly reducing the cost related to chemical synthesis, and getting rid of the status quo of high dependence on manual operation of pharmaceutical and chemical synthesis.
Magrui Chemical uses green chemistry technology to provide customers with low-carbon and environmentally friendly ESG value, improve the production efficiency and energy utilization rate of pharmaceutical and chemical synthesis, and reduce environmental pollution and harm to operators.
At present, MagRui Chemical has successfully completed the delivery of a number of commercial orders beyond expectations, which has been highly recognized by customers at home and abroad.
Dr. Lin Sen, Founder and CEO of Magus, said, "We are very grateful to new and old investors for their support and recognition. Since its establishment two years ago, Magwise has made steady progress in terms of R&D achievements and commercialization, and has continuously reached new milestones. In the future, we will continue to focus on the development of automated and intelligent synthetic CRO service platforms, on the one hand, to provide customers with services that reduce costs and increase efficiency, and ESG value, and on the other hand, to accelerate the research and development of innovative drugs to solve the unmet drug needs of patients. ”
Dr. Kan Chen, Partner of Qiming Venture Partners, analyzed: "The synthesis of drug candidate molecules is a key link in the drug development process. In the past, chemists were responsible for the design of the synthesis pathway and the operation of the synthesis experiment of drug candidates, and there was no lack of trial and error during the process, which limited the rapid progress of drug development. Although there are many chemical retrosynthesis algorithms and software in the past, the results are not satisfactory because they are based on limited and crude data. Dr. Kan Chen pointed out that Magne's new AI algorithm, combined with a large amount of proprietary data generated internally, has greatly improved the accuracy of chemical retrosynthesis path design. At the same time, the automated workstation of Magrui Chemical can control different types of starting materials, operate different types of chemical experiments, and collect multi-dimensional real-time data, which greatly improves the efficiency of chemical synthesis, frees chemists from the routine experimental process, and allows them to think more innovative problems. "We are very optimistic about this set of 'AI-automation-chemistry' closed-loop capabilities established by MagRui Chemical, and believe that it will become a 'paradigm shift' technology for chemical synthesis in the future, accelerating drug research and development, and bringing the gospel of disease to patients faster. ”
Dr. Jing Xu, Investment Director of Lyfe Capital, said: "Chemical synthesis can effectively reduce costs and shorten delivery cycles through intelligent automation, while being more environmentally friendly and safer, which is in line with the future development trend of the industry. The chemlex team has a strong overseas academic and technical background, and has truly realized the close combination of AI, automation and chemical synthesis, and is in the leading position in the industry in terms of technology. We look forward to working closely with Chemlex to empower them in commercialization and internationalization, and jointly provide higher quality and more cost-effective pharmaceutical synthesis services for domestic and foreign pharmaceutical customers." ”
Mr. Feng Yadong, Director of Sinovation Ventures Investment, said: "At a time when technology is becoming more and more interdisciplinary, automation and digitalization have become the 'infrastructure' of the new generation of scientific research. Driven by these technologies, the pharmaceutical industry will also usher in more and more innovations and breakthroughs. Magwise has an experienced interdisciplinary team that empowers traditional chemical synthesis with AI and automation technologies, and is committed to breaking through the many drawbacks caused by the high labor intensity in the field of chemical synthesis, greatly improving the efficiency of drug development and reducing costs. We are very pleased to cooperate with MagWise and look forward to the development of MagWise Chemical. ”
Mr. Huang Yuqing, Founder and CEO of Maga Technology, said, "MagWise is an excellent enterprise incubated and invested in the field of chemical synthesis CRO by Maga, with a high-quality, interdisciplinary top team. Since its establishment, Magwise has focused on the organic integration of automation, AI and chemical synthesis, and has developed a series of artificial intelligence models and high-throughput automation systems, which will help pharmaceutical companies and scientific research institutions explore a broader space of ready-made medicine chemistry with higher efficiency and lower cost, and greatly shorten the iterative cycle of drug research and development. In the future, Maga will continue to provide all-round support to MagiChem, adhere to the long-term principle of green and low-carbon development, and contribute more to building a better and healthier future world. ”
About Qiming Venture Partners
Founded in 2006, Qiming Venture Partners has offices in Shanghai, Beijing, Suzhou, Hong Kong and Singapore. At present, Qiming Venture Partners manages 11 USD** and 7 RMB**, with total assets under management of US$9.5 billion. Since its establishment, it has focused on investing in outstanding companies in the early and growth stages of technology and consumer (T&C) and healthcare industries. Up to now, Qiming Venture Partners has invested in more than 530 fast-growing innovative companies, of which more than 200 have been listed on the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Shanghai Stock Exchange and Shenzhen Stock Exchange, or exited through mergers and acquisitions, and more than 70 companies have become industry-recognized unicorns or super unicorns.
About LYFE:capital
Lyfe Capital is a leading global healthcare investment platform with offices and teams in Singapore, the United States, China, and South Korea. Lyfe believes that healthcare knows no borders, and partners with companies that have the potential to advance healthcare, address unmet needs on a global scale, and leverage expertise and global resources to invest in and create value for healthcare companies around the world. Lyfe's experienced team has a comprehensive understanding of the global healthcare industry and continues to work with and empower portfolio companies to maximize their potential in a dynamic global market.
About Sinovation Works
Founded in September 2009 by Dr. Kai-Fu Lee, Sinovation Ventures, as a leading technology-based venture capital institution in China, Sinovation Ventures is deeply engaged in the fields of artificial intelligence and hard technology, robotics and automation, enterprise service software, medical technology, sustainable technology, etc., and is committed to building a comprehensive ecological investment service platform integrating entrepreneurial platforms, financial support, and post-investment services.
About Maga Technology
Founded in 2016, Maga Technology is a technology company focusing on providing advanced productivity tools, and is committed to empowering digital innovation in the fields of life sciences, clinical diagnosis, applied chemistry and advanced manufacturing through the deep integration of robotic automation, artificial intelligence technology and industry applications, so as to make the world healthier and better.