China's Simnova Biotechnology, spun out of Simcere's cell-therapy unit in 2021, has closed a RMB 400 million (USD 60 million) Series B led by Futeng Capital, Cenova Capital, and Pudong Ventures, with Shanghai Zhangjiang Technology Venture Capital and Oriza Holdings, and returning investor Youshan Capital participating. Proceeds are earmarked for confirmatory clinical work on SNC103, a CD19-directed off-the-shelf CAR-NK, and registration-track development of SNC116, its lentiviral in vivo CAR-T platform.

SNC103 posted a 100% SRI-4 response rate in a Phase I severe systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) cohort, with plans to start pivotal confirmatory trials in 2027, while SNC116 has entered investigator-initiated studies using a single intravenous infusion to engineer autologous T-cells in vivo and avoid ex vivo manufacturing.

The financing underscores a two-track cell-therapy pivot away from autologous CAR-T: universal CAR-NK attacks the cost and vein-to-vein latency problem with allogeneic, cryopreservable doses priced closer to standard biologics, while in vivo CAR-T removes the central manufacturing step entirely, trading vector tropism and transient expression for outpatient delivery. Simnova's prior LNP and circular RNA work with ORNA Therapeutics (since acquired by Eli Lilly) gives it a secondary delivery option if lentiviral specificity proves limiting.