• Bayland Capital and founding shareholder, CN Innovations Holdings Ltd, to invest $10M and $5.5M, respectively
• Investment will expand product development and scaling of the organization to meet increased demand for Organ-on-a-Chip (OOC) solutions

Cambridge, UK, 23 April 2024: CN Bio, a leading provider of single- and multi-organ microphysiological systems, today announced it has raised a £17 million ($21 million) investment in the first close of its Series B fundraising round. The funding has been secured from several new investors; including $10 million from Bayland Capital, and $5.5 million from founding shareholder, CN Innovations Holdings Ltd. The investment will be used to accelerate the Company’s expanding product portfolio and to scale the business to support commercial expansion across key global markets.

The global OOC market’s CAGR is estimated at 30.94%¹. This growth has been accelerated, in part, by the need for biopharmaceutical companies to improve the efficiency and success rate of innovative drug R&D and recent legislative changes, such as the US FDA Modernization Act 2.0. In response, CN Bio is delivering an ambitious expansion strategy to meet the increasing demand for its PhysioMimix^® OOC technology and research services, and to provide deeper, clinically-relevant insights into early-stage preclinical drug discovery in a wider range of application areas, whilst reducing reliance on animal models. Over the past year, this has included a series of high-profile appointments to expand the Company’s leadership team in the UK and US, new product launches, and strategic industry collaborations. Notably, in December 2023², it was confirmed that PhysioMimix OOC and its associated NASH ‘in-a-box’ kit provided critical human-relevant compound efficacy data for Inipharm’s INI-822, supporting regulatory approval to initiate clinical testing for metabolic liver disease – a pivotal inflection point in CN Bio’s development, and the broader industry.

With the latest fundraising, CN Bio is well-positioned to continue its global expansion to meet the evolving needs of customers worldwide in key markets including toxicology, drug pharmacology and metabolic diseases. With 80% of clinical failures attributed to efficacy and toxicity issues, often derived from the poor predictiveness of animal and 2D cell culture models³, the industry demand for OOC solutions in these areas is growing. By expanding R&D in the space, CN Bio will enhance the depth and breadth of tools and applications available to optimize drug discovery and development workflows, enabling researchers to generate data with greater predictability, lower risks of late-stage failures, and accelerate time-to-market for a wide-range of novel therapeutics.

Dr Paul Brooks, CEO, CN Bio, said: “We are seeing pivotal growth across our industry, whereby drug developers are increasingly recognising the potential of OOC technology to augment, supplement and optimize their workflows.” He added: “We have strategically positioned ourselves accordingly to respond to the market needs and are proud to have received recognition from our major shareholder, CN Innovations, and new institutional investors such as Bayland Capital, to drive this vision forward. The investment is a testament to our team’s hard work and dedication to best supporting our customers to bring drugs to patients more quickly, more cost-effectively, and through less animal experimentation.”

Yuexing Su, Founding Partner, Bayland Capital, commented: “OOC technology is an exciting market with compelling opportunity for growth. CN Bio has taken key steps to build a team with extensive industry expertise and robust networks across the industry, with a longstanding track record of success. We look forward to the continued success for the Company as it further capitalizes on this unique growth opportunity and delivers on its future expansion plans to remain at the cutting-edge of the field. We will leverage our networks and shareholders’ base to further support and cement the leading position of CN Bio in OOC development.”

Charles Chong, Managing Director, CN Innovations, added: “We are encouraged by CN Bio’s ongoing success and, in particular, the team’s achievements over the past years, during which conditions have been difficult in the broader economy. In this time, key milestones have been met, not just for the Company, but also the wider industry – including CN Bio providing critical human-relevant compound efficacy data to support the FDA’s approval for Inipharm’s Phase 1 clinical trial for metabolic liver disease. We are pleased to be supporting CN Bio again as it looks ahead and strengthens its future growth plans, of which, expanding its product portfolio in markets that hold huge impact for the industry, such as metabolic disease modelling and toxicology, will be key.”

1.      https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/organs-on-chips-market

2.      https://cn-bio.com/physiomimix-data-supports-inipharms-ini-822-for-metabolic-liver-disease-treatment/

3.      Sun, D., Gao, W., Hu H. and Zhou, S. (2022) ‘Why 90% of clinical drug development fails and how to improve it?’ Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B, 12(7), pp 3049-3062.

ENDS

About CN Bio cn-bio.com

CN Bio is on a mission to accelerate drug discovery. As a leading organ-on-chip (OOC) company, the team is transforming how human-specific efficacy and safety data are generated.

CN Bio’s human organ models deepen the understanding of disease mechanisms, help uncover new drug targets and enable effective therapeutics to be developed safely. Throughout the discovery and development process, the Company’s portfolio of products and services help save time and reduce costs.

Based in Cambridge (UK), CN Bio brings over a decade of experience and know-how to engineering single and multi-organ microphysiological systems (MPS). As a result, the Company’s ground-breaking benchtop PhysioMimix^® OOC range can accurately mimic human physiology in the laboratory. Using advanced, predictive in vitro human organ models, these systems enable the development of novel therapeutics with increased efficiency, whilst relieving the dependence on animal models. These models also offer valuable insights into how drugs will perform in patients, greatly reducing risks in the clinic.

The power of PhysioMimix^® technology has been recognized by the US FDA, resulting in the first co- publication between a drug regulator and an MPS provider and has been harnessed by 13 of the leading pharmaceutical companies. In 2023, CN Bio helped deliver a regulatory world first, when the Company supported Inipharm’s INI-822 successful filing to initiate clinical testing for the treatment of metabolic liver disease treatment.

To find out more about CN Bio and how the Company is pioneering faster, more accurate drug discovery, please visit: cn-bio.com

Follow CN Bio on LinkedIn @CN Bio and X (formerly Twitter) @CN_Bio.

About Bayland Capital

Bayland Capital is the corporate venture capital arm of Pharmaron, a global life science contract research organization. Founded in 2019, Bayland Capital is led by a professional investment team with extensive experience in the life science industry, investment services and global capital markets. We invest in companies that are developing innovative medicines, medical devices and technologies to transform the industry.

About CN Innovations Group https://www.cn-innovations.com/home

CN Innovations Group is an advanced manufacturing and material science company with headquarters in Hong Kong, offering innovative technical and supply chain solutions to major industries. Products and services provided include metal processing & precision stamping, metal injection molding, touch panels, glass and polymer composite processing, and surface treatment covering both decorative and functional purposes. Other ventures excluding CN Bio include new energy vehicles, and IC packaging equipment and services. CN Innovations Group is founded and owned by HS Chong, Bob Chong and Charles Chong, and part of the wider Chungnam Group, founded in 1935.