"Anranfei" Secures Tens of Millions in Angel Round Funding with Parkinson's Treatment via "Physiological Regulation" | Exclusive Report by 36Kr

36Kr learned that recently, Enranfei (Kunshan) New Drug R & D Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Enranfei"), an innovative drug company, has completed an angel - round financing of tens of millions of RMB. This round of financing was exclusively invested by Fengrui Capital, and Gewu Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor. The raised funds will be mainly used for the R & D of innovative drug pipelines for various neurological diseases such as Parkinson's disease.

Founded in 2023, Enranfei focuses on the R & D of innovative drugs that can regulate neurotransmitter secretion. The founder, Zhang Yanfeng, is a professor of neuroscience at the University of Exeter in the UK and a visiting lecturer at the University of Oxford. He has more than 15 years of research experience in the field of dopamine secretion and function.

It is understood that abnormal neurotransmitter release has been confirmed to be closely related to various neurological diseases. For example, insufficient dopamine secretion can lead to Parkinson's disease, attention - deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), schizophrenia, etc. Currently, the treatment of these central nervous system diseases mainly relies on drug means, mostly targeting neurotransmitters and their receptors to develop drugs, including increasing the concentration of neurotransmitters exogenously and binding to neurotransmitter receptors to produce activation or inhibition effects.

However, these methods often result in the signals received by downstream neurons in the brain circuit not being encoded by upstream neurons, but rather non - physiological signals determined by drug concentration. Although these signals can be strong, long - term and non - physiological stimulation will bring obvious side effects to downstream neural circuits.

Taking Parkinson's disease as an example, it is a common degenerative disease of the central nervous system in the middle - aged and elderly. The root cause of its onset lies in the large - scale apoptosis of dopaminergic neurons in the patient's brain. According to WHO statistics, there are about 10 million Parkinson's disease patients globally; in China, the prevalence rate among people over 60 years old has reached 1% - 2%. Currently, the "gold standard" drug for treating Parkinson's disease, levodopa, can be converted into dopamine in the brain to make up for the lack of this neurotransmitter in the striatum of Parkinson's patients. However, after long - term use of levodopa, patients may experience movement disorders such as dyskinesia or other mental complications.

In response to this, Enranfei has developed an endogenous neurotransmitter regulation technology platform. By regulating the conversion efficiency of electrical signals to chemical signals in nerve cells, without affecting the firing frequency of nerve cells (i.e., without changing their physiological significance), it endogenously regulates neurotransmitter secretion to directly carry out physiological regulation of the secretion of target neurotransmitters, thus treating diseases. Moreover, this method does not require invasive surgery.

Enranfei introduced that compared with traditional therapies, the advantages of this "physiological regulation" are as follows: First, this therapy can maintain the original firing frequency of nerve cells, avoiding functional damage caused by long - term activation of downstream cells;

Second, after treatment, the signals between damaged nerves in the disease will be correspondingly amplified or reduced to ensure that the communication between cells can return to a normal level, further reducing side effects;

Finally, this therapy is highly targeted and has accurate treatment goals, which can reduce side effects caused by interference with other types of neural signals.

Image source: Enranfei

Based on this technology platform, Enranfei has first carried out the layout of relevant drug pipelines for Parkinson's disease. It is reported that the new target realizes the direct regulation of dopaminergic neuron secretion, and the developed drug can be used to treat Parkinson's disease independently. The relevant research results have been published in NATURE NEUROSCIENCE.

Image source: Enranfei

Meanwhile, the company has completed the application for multiple international patents for lead compounds, and the optimization work of lead compounds is about to be completed. It is expected that the pre - clinical candidate compound (PCC) will be confirmed within 2025.

It is also understood that Enranfei has now launched a new round of financing. Investment institutions interested are welcome to contact the company.

Views of the founder and investors:

Zhang Yanfeng, CEO of Enranfei, said that he is grateful for the support of Fengrui Capital. With the support of capital, the company will soon confirm the PCC of the first pipeline for innovative drugs for Parkinson's disease and expand the neuroelectrophysiological platform represented by fast - scan cyclic voltammetry (FCV). In the future, it will also expand the R & D of multiple pipelines for ADHD, Tourette's syndrome, etc. based on the technology platform of the new mechanism of endogenous dopamine regulation.

Dr. Xie Da of Fengrui Capital said that there is a huge unmet clinical need for central nervous system diseases. However, limited by the complex pathology of brain diseases, as well as the limited research methods and research samples, the development of drugs for neuropsychiatric diseases still faces great challenges. Enranfei develops drugs for central nervous system diseases based on a new neurobiological mechanism, focusing on the regulation of local brain networks, which is different from the previous single neurotransmitter replenishment or direct intervention in neurotransmitter receptors. Therefore, it is expected to achieve a treatment effect closer to the physiological level and has the potential to expand and verify in different types of neurons and different species. Treating Parkinson's disease by increasing the dopamine concentration in the brain has been clinically recognized. Enranfei's first pipeline will also focus on Parkinson's disease in order to provide key clinical verification for the new biological mechanism and bring better drugs to Parkinson's patients.

Di Haiming, a partner of Gewu Capital, said that he is very honored to cooperate with top scientists in the global Parkinson's disease research field. Dr. Zhang has a profound background in electrophysiology, electrochemistry, pharmacology, behavioral science, chemistry, and computer simulation. The mechanism of Enranfei's first pipeline for treating Parkinson's disease is clear, and the pre - clinical research data has shown excellent results. In the future, it is expected to break the levodopa phobia and bring new hope to Parkinson's patients.