"Viak Bio" Secures Nearly RMB 100 Million in Series A Financing for Providing CGT Product Safety Evaluation Services | Exclusive Report by 36Kr
Text by | Hu Xiangyun
Edited by | Hai Ruojing
36Kr learned that Weike Biotech recently completed a nearly 100 million yuan Series A financing round. This round of financing was led by Shenzhen Capital Group (SCGC) and followed by Wuxi Innovation Investment Group. The raised funds will mainly be used to accelerate the construction of the US safety evaluation and testing center for cell and gene therapy (CGT), CGT safety evaluation services, CGT clinical services, and the overseas business expansion of biological breeding services. Fenghe Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor.
Weike Biotech focuses on providing CRO services based on safety evaluation for cell and gene therapy (CGT) drugs. The core team members all come from Heidelberg University in Germany and the German Cancer Research Center, with many years of experience in the field of CGT safety evaluation. They have assisted in the approval and listing of multiple gene therapy products, such as Novartis' CAR - T drug Kymriah and BioMarin's hemophilia drug Roctavian.
"Around 2021, as the domestic CGT field gradually developed and representative products such as CAR - T therapy were successively launched, regulatory authorities paid more and more attention to the safety testing of such products. Against this background, we cooperated with the German GENEWERK team to introduce and upgrade relevant testing technologies and founded Weike Biotech," said Wu Ning, the founder of Weike Biotech.
It is understood that at present, Weike Biotech can provide CRO services required for the entire process of CGT drugs, from early - stage clinical research and development, CMC development, to later - stage IIT clinical and registered clinical trials, long - term follow - up, and listing applications. For example, in the pre - registration clinical stage, the company can provide project management, drug safety evaluation services, R & D and quality control services, non - clinical/clinical CRO services, etc. In the post - registration clinical stage, it provides services related to project management, clinical communication, data collection, follow - up testing, etc.
However, overall, since the domestic CGT industry started relatively late, the safety evaluation market for relevant drugs is still in its early stage. As a startup, how can Weike Biotech enter the supply chain systems of various downstream enterprises?
"Technical barriers are the foundation for participating in market competition. At the same time, our advantage lies in the ability to combine testing methods with specific scenarios," Wu Ning explained. "For example, during the application stage, pharmaceutical companies least want to see the application get stuck or be rejected due to a certain test result. Our team has relatively rich experience in handling cases at home and abroad. We can more fully combine past adverse cases and risks, customize suitable testing plans for customers, provide professional data interpretation services, and assist them in dealing with regulatory inquiries and questions."
Wu Ning admitted that since starting the business, he has deeply felt that in the past two years, most customers only considered cooperation when they reached the application stage and faced the requirements of regulatory authorities for safety evaluation. However, recently, "a large number of customers have started to contact us in the early R & D stage, hoping to determine whether the project is suitable for subsequent promotion." This made him realize that the market is gradually opening up.
As of now, Weike Biotech has served more than 70 pharmaceutical companies and scientific research institutions in total, covering over 100 domestic and international pipelines throughout the entire drug application cycle. It has also supported multiple companies in achieving dual filings in China and the US, and the fastest one has successfully obtained marketing approval.
In addition to the CGT scenario, Weike Biotech is also simultaneously making efforts in the fields of biological breeding, synthetic biology, and early diagnosis and screening. Among them, for the relatively fast - developing biological breeding sector, Weike Biotech has established a subsidiary in Qingdao and has served hundreds of enterprises and scientific research customers in total. Through de novo verification, Weike Biotech has completed the construction of a full - process technical platform for "transformation system establishment - genome editing vector optimization - genome editing material creation - safety testing of gene - edited plants."
Introduction to the investment institutions in this round
About Shenzhen Capital Group (SCGC): Shenzhen Capital Group Co., Ltd. was established in 1999 with capital from the Shenzhen municipal government and the guidance of social capital. Its current registered capital is 10 billion yuan, and it manages various funds with a total scale of approximately 510 billion yuan. SCGC adheres to the orientation of investing in early - stage, small - scale, long - term, and hard - technology projects, and focuses on the layout of information technology, equipment manufacturing, new materials and new energy, and the health industry. Its investment network covers the whole country. As of the end of October 2025, it has directly invested in more than 1,700 enterprises.
About Wuxi Innovation Investment Group: Wuxi Innovation Investment Group is a state - owned venture capital institution integrating seed, angel, venture, equity, merger and acquisition, and S funds. It manages funds with a total scale of over 280 billion yuan. The company has deeply cultivated the life - health industry and established a fund system covering the entire life cycle of enterprises in the biomedical and health field, including seed, angel, VC, and PE funds. The company's current investment areas in biomedicine cover innovative drugs, biotechnology, medical devices, etc. The companies it has invested in, such as Healthos Medical, Bio - Intelligence Solutions, Xiantong Pharmaceutical, Shining 3D, Vascular Medical, and Ruiyue Pharmaceutical, are all enterprises with internationally leading technological advantages in their respective niches.