Rongu Bio raises $15M Series A for CAR-NK cell therapies
What's the deal? Rongu BioDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a Chinese biotech developing off-the-shelf CAR-NK and CAR-T cell therapies, has closed a Series A round of US$13.8M (roughly $15 million). Backers include Changjin HoldingsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Yichen Investment, Hangzhou Jingya, and Shaoxing Jingteng.
What's the endgame? Founded in 2018, Rongu focuses on cord blood-derived, universal CAR-NK and CAR-T drugs, targeting autoimmune disease while also pursuing blood and solid tumours. It says its proprietary platform spans lentiviral vectors, immune cell expansion, and nanobody screening.
The company will use the money to advance single- and dual-target pipelines for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) toward an investigational new drug (IND) filing, and to support clinical translation of new medical technologies.
Why now? Rongu recently signed a deal to base its cell therapy headquarters at the Shengming Fangzhou CGT platform in Changzhou's national high-tech zone. It plans to localise R&D, manufacturing, and registration there, building a "research—manufacturing—clinical" loop and pushing three class-one drugs toward Phase I trials in 2027.
What could go wrong? Rongu reports that all nine evaluable patients in early SLE research achieved an SRI-4 response. But the sample is small and the work was investigator-initiated, so it does not match the evidence standard of a registration trial.
The signal: Universal CAR-NK for autoimmune disease is drawing larger cheques: Xianbo Bio closed a near US$55M Series B in August 2026, and Enruikainuo earlier raised over US$27.5M in a Series A. Rongu's round reflects that momentum, but the real test is proving efficacy, safety, and manufacturability in bigger, regulated studies.
Read more: itjuzi.com
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
