VDJBio completes Series C financing and promotes clinical development of IL-6R antibodies

On June 5th, Beijing VDJBio Co., Ltd.(VDJBio) announced the completion of its Series C financing round, led by North Venture Capital, with participation from UMC Capital, Liyuan Venture Capital, Huadian Investment, etc. Existing shareholders, including Lotus Lake Capital and Li Zaifu, also increased their investment. The funds raised in this round will be used for clinical trials of VDJ001 and other products, as well as large-scale production of antibody drugs, and the development, production, and sales of innovative drugs in the field of self-immunity.

VDJBio was founded in 2011, mainly focusing on developing new antibodies and fusion protein drugs for autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. The construction of VDJBio’s production base in Zhejiang has been completed in 2022 and has begun to produce samples on a large scale. The company is committed to researching and developing new monoclonal antibodies and fusion protein drugs that are more effective, safer, and have lower production costs for the treatment of autoimmune diseases.

Currently, the company’s leading product, VDJ001, has performed well in Phase IIa clinical trials for iMCD, and it is expected to enter critical clinical trials for iMCD soon. At the same time, the clinical trial of VDJ001 in Phase II of rheumatoid arthritis and positive antibody drugs has recently ended, and it is expected to enter Phase III clinical trials for rheumatoid arthritis soon.

VDJ-001 is a recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody injection that targets interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptors. It specifically binds to both soluble and membrane-bound IL-6 receptors (sIL-6R and mIL-6R), blocking the three pathways of IL-6 signaling. Positive results have been obtained in a phase 2a prospective study for the treatment of iMCD, with a total remission rate of 55.6% after 8 weeks of treatment, a median time to tumor remission of 56 days, and a median time to normalization of C-reactive protein (CRP) and hemoglobin (HGB) of 7 and 14 days, respectively. Preliminary analysis shows that VDJ-001 is highly effective and fast-acting in iMCD patients, and may become an important treatment option for this disease. Based on this, VDJBio Bio plans to initiate a critical phase 2b clinical trial for the treatment of iMCD with this product in the fourth quarter of this year.^[1]Beijing VDJBio Co., Ltd., https://www.vdjbio.com/product2/?177_958.html)