The financing was co-led by the Shanghai Pudong Leading Zone Investment Center (上海浦东引领区投资中心) and Shanghai Puxing Xietong Private Equity Partnership (上海浦兴协同私募基金合伙企业).
Zhikai Capital’s Fuzhou Xinhe Fund (致凯资本福州新合基金), Shenzhen Luohu Donghai Ruizhi Pharmaceutical Industry Investment Partnership (深圳市罗湖东海睿智医药产业投资合伙企业) and Keyuan Pharmaceutical (科源制药) also participated in the financing.
Existing investors BVCF (百奥维达中国基金), YD Capital, Jiashan State-owned Capital (嘉善国投), DT Capital (德同资本), Weidu Capital (苇渡资本) and Biometas made follow-on investments. Haoyue Capital (浩悦资本) served as the exclusive financial adviser for the transaction.
Drug Farm said the proceeds would be used to advance its clinical and preclinical pipeline, accelerate global clinical-development programs, support regulatory activities in major markets and further strengthen its research and development capabilities.
Dr. Xu Tian, founder and chairman of Drug Farm, described the financing as an important milestone in the company’s mission to develop first-in-class medicines for patients worldwide.
“We are pleased to welcome our new investors and receive the continued support of our long-term shareholders,” Xu said. “Their participation reflects confidence in our scientific capabilities, development strategy and long-term vision. We believe this financing will help Drug Farm create meaningful value for patients, partners and shareholders.”
Dr. Henri Lichenstein, chief executive officer of Drug Farm, said the new capital would provide additional resources for the development of the company’s lead drug candidates, DF-003 and DF-006.
“We sincerely thank our investors for their continued trust and support,” Lichenstein said. “DF-003 is among the first first-in-class drug candidates discovered with the aid of artificial intelligence to advance toward late-stage clinical development.”
According to Lichenstein, the financing will support pivotal development activities for DF-003 in patients with ROSAH syndrome, as well as clinical proof-of-concept studies in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Part of the proceeds will also be used to continue the clinical development of DF-006 as a potential treatment for chronic hepatitis B.
Dr. Xu Cong, chief operating officer of Drug Farm, said the company uses its proprietary IDInVivo+ and MedChem5 platforms to integrate human genetics, in vivo biology and AI-enabled medicinal chemistry.
“These platforms allow us to identify and validate novel drug targets and move first-in-class candidates into clinical development,” Xu said. “This financing will help us bring more potential therapies to patients with significant unmet medical needs, particularly in metabolic and autoimmune diseases.”
Wu Xiaokun, a partner at Haoyue Capital, said the investment reflected confidence in Drug Farm’s technology platforms, clinical pipeline and long-term development strategy.
“We have witnessed Drug Farm translate its genetics- and AI-enabled discovery platforms into a growing clinical pipeline,” Wu said. “The progress of DF-003 and DF-006 demonstrates the potential of the company’s approach.”
Wu added that Haoyue Capital would continue to support Drug Farm by connecting the company with capital-market and biotechnology-industry resources as it advances its drug candidates and expands globally.
About Drug Farm
Drug Farm (药物牧场) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing first-in-class therapies for diseases with substantial unmet medical needs, including ROSAH syndrome, cardiovascular and renal diseases, chronic hepatitis B and metabolic disorders.
The company’s proprietary IDInVivo+ and MedChem5 platforms combine genetics, in vivo target validation and AI-enabled medicinal chemistry to identify novel biological targets and develop potential therapies. Drug Farm is advancing multiple first-in-class drug candidates through clinical development.
About DF-003
DF-003 is an investigational, first-in-class small-molecule drug developed using Drug Farm’s MedChem5 AI-enabled medicinal chemistry platform. The candidate is designed to inhibit alpha-kinase 1, or ALPK1, including disease-causing ALPK1 variants.
ALPK1 is involved in inflammatory signaling and has been linked to ROSAH syndrome, a rare genetic inflammatory disorder. The name ROSAH refers to the condition’s major clinical features: retinal dystrophy, optic nerve edema, splenomegaly, anhidrosis and headache.
In an ongoing Phase Ib clinical study registered as NCT06395285, DF-003 has shown preliminary evidence of improvement across several symptoms associated with ROSAH syndrome, according to the company. Because the study remains ongoing, the candidate’s safety and efficacy have not yet been fully established.
Drug Farm is advancing DF-003 toward pivotal clinical evaluation in ROSAH syndrome. Based on findings from preclinical disease models and research into the role of ALPK1 in inflammation, the company is also evaluating the candidate’s potential in cardiovascular and renal diseases.
DF-003 has received Fast Track, Orphan Drug and Rare Pediatric Disease designations from the US Food and Drug Administration. It has also been accepted into the FDA’s Rare Disease Evidence Principles process, which is intended to support early engagement regarding evidence generation for rare-disease drug development.
Research describing the discovery and preclinical development of DF-003 has been published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications.
About DF-006
DF-006 is an investigational, first-in-class oral ALPK1 agonist and immunomodulatory drug developed by Drug Farm. It is designed to stimulate local innate immune responses in the liver and is being evaluated as a potential treatment for chronic hepatitis B.
The candidate has completed single-ascending-dose and multiple-ascending-dose evaluations in healthy volunteers. It has also undergone multiple-ascending-dose evaluation in virologically suppressed patients with hepatitis B e antigen-negative chronic hepatitis B.
Drug Farm said encouraging antiviral activity was observed during the clinical evaluation. However, DF-006 remains investigational, and further studies will be required to establish its safety and efficacy.
Research findings related to DF-006 have been published in Hepatology. Drug Farm has also entered into a clinical collaboration with Xiamen Amoytop Biotech Co., Ltd. (厦门特宝生物工程股份有限公司) to advance the development of DF-006 for chronic hepatitis B and hepatocellular carcinoma.