(Yicai Global) April 22 -- EdiGene has secured CNY400 million (USD61.7 million) in its Series B+ round of funding to fuel its development of China's first gene-editing technology approved for clinical trials.

Loyal Valley Capital led the biotech startup's latest round of financing, the Paper reported today, citing the Beijing-based company.

Moreover, BioTrack Capital and Sherpa Healthcare Partners joined the fundraising. Existing shareholders, such as IDG Capital, Lilly Asia Ventures, 3H Health Investment, and Sequoia Capital China, also chipped in.

Wei Wensheng, professor at Peking University’s School of Life Sciences, founded EdiGene in 2015 to develop genome editing technologies to treat genetic diseases and cancers, according to the firm's website. The company has offices in Guangzhou and Massachusetts, the US.

The startup has been successful amongst investors and regulators. Last October, EdiGene bagged CNY450 million in its Series B round. In January 2021, the firm obtained the country's first permit to test its stem cell technology ET-01 for treating people who suffer from such severe anemia that they need regular blood transfusions.

Several EdiGene product pipelines have promising prospects, said Loyal Valley Capital’s founder Lin Lijun. Besides the smoothly advancing preparations for its ET-01 trials, the company is developing chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapies to harness these types of immune cells to fight cancer.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi